


Ploughfields

by FC2000



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Early 1800s England but it's Eldia, F/M, Female Hange Zoë, Past Levi/Petra Ral, country estate au, levi will need hugs, other AOT characters in random roles, victorian au, war and violence in later chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21618388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FC2000/pseuds/FC2000
Summary: Once a great family of wealth and prestige, the Ackermans have been cursed with tragedy and scandal.  Captain Levi seems the most cursed out of all of them.  Hange comes to work there as a doctor and begins the transformation of a house and family.Inspired by Victorian era AUs, with all the class divide that comes with it.
Relationships: Hange Zoë/Levi, Mikasa Ackerman/Eren Yeager
Comments: 63
Kudos: 287





	1. The Stormy Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> I've come out of fanfiction retirement for Levihan. I own nothing and am just doing this to keep myself occupied. This is basically a romance set in the early 1800s England (but not really England). I've been out of the writing game for a while so things might be a bit rough.

In the south of Rose county, scattered among the luscious green hillsides, were many houses of grandeur and prestige. Some of which have stood for many centuries, housing the lineages of Eldia's greatest families. They were another world from the cities and nearby villages where prosperity and poverty were an everyday struggle. The families of these manors each had their own history, their own legends, and for some unfortunately, their own reputations.

The Ackerman family resided in Ploughfields, far from the biggest of country houses, but was considered amongst the most pristine...at least they once were. The recent generations of Ackermans were amidst in numerous scandals and tragedies that were widespread by high society's biggest gossipers. And despite the well-kept condition of the estate, it was known that the wealth of this great family was quickly diminishing. The current lord of the house was often never home, indulging in drink and gambling in the local taverns. His heir is said to have shut himself off from the outside world whenever possible.

These were some of the many tales that Hange Zoe (Dr. Hange Zoe as she wish she was known), tried to brush off as she prepared for her journey to the estate. The coachman had even given her the raised brow when she told him where exactly she was going.

Not that she was thrilled about the prospect of working for some rich stiffs herself, but this was no ordinary job she was being offered. Women doctors were often looked down upon Eldian society and no one was willing to finance Hange a medical office of her own. The money her parents had left her upon their passing was slowly drying up. The future seemed dim for her, considering she was with no family left and was no longer of marriageable age. It was what it was. She could find content in living the rest of her days in solitude...perhaps in a small cottage out in the countryside, with a small garden and local animals for companionship.

She was therefore shocked when she received an acceptance letter to arrive at Ploughfields by the evening of Oct. 31st. Often the cycle had consisted of her responding to postings for a home doctor or a caretaker with medical experience only to be profoundly rejected for lack of experience (or more obviously her gender). The posting from Ploughfields called for someone who could tend to an older sick woman. Perhaps this Lord Kenny or whoever thought this made her more fit for the job at hand.

Whatever the case, Hange had been determined to get there in a timely manner. The coach was traveling through windy rains when the wheels on the left side of the coach veered off the road into deep mud. She got out herself to help push the coach from behind till it was back on track. It resulted in the bun of her hair falling apart, her face smeared with dirt and her dress soaked from the hem to waist with who knows what, with no way of cleaning herself up.

She shrugged it off. The dress was just a plain black dress that could hide most of the dirt. Besides, the Ackermans weren't going to be that nit-picky about how she looked, were they?

The skies remained dark and the rain never ceased upon her arrival at Ploughfields. When Hange stepped out of the coach, she could scarcely make any detail of the large manor before other than the massive front door. The only light seemed to have come from a second story window, and for a brief moment, Hange swore she saw a curtain move through shadows.

Her nerves began to tickle her as she pulled on the bell pull and could hear a soft ringing inside. The door opening slightly to reveal a tall stoic man with a bowl-cut. This man was clearly the butler of the household.

“Hey there,” she greeted him casually. “Dr. Hange Zoe. Nice to meet you.” She put a hand out hoping the butler would shake it but he seemed more occupied with the state of her from having been out in such wild weather. “Look, sorry I'm late, okay?” Hange explained. “Clearly you can see...”

“Your delay was anticipated, Miss Hange,” the man finally said as he stepped aside. “You may come in.”

The door now wide open, Hange cautiously entered. Two footmen rushed past her to collect her things from the coach waiting outside.

Everything she had been told about these country manors were true. The main hall she was standing in was larger than most homes of the lower class. The grand staircase infront of her lead up to a long second floor railing looking down, similar to that she had seen in Eldia's great libraries. Everything from the trims to the columns were carved with exquisite details of elegant birds and flowers. And even in the darkness, Hange could see her reflection upon the shiny marble floor.

A slender woman with short blond hair and spectacles much like Hange's arrived in the main hall. “Miss Hange, is it? I'm the housekeeper, Miss Rico. We'll get your things upstairs and then...” The woman had been holding a candle in her hand, when the light reflected the floor surrounding Hange, the housekeeper gave a shriek and dropped the candle.

In a matter of seconds, several different servants and maids were rushing into the main hall. “Miss Rico, what's wrong? We heard a scream.”

Hange saw a horrified expression on Rico's face as she waved her finger at the floor. “Mud...she's tracked it everywhere!”

Hange looked down. She didn't realize in her exploration of the main hall, the mud and dirt from her dress traveled around the floor making contact with the rugs and the legs of furniture that was nearby.

“Master Levi will be furious! Don't just stand there...get the mops and buckets! Quickly!”

The servants instantly scrambled, grabbing their cleaning supplies and scrubbing furiously at every speck of dirt that could be seen...as well as other that couldn't be seen. In the chaos, the footmen that went to get Hange's things were already making their way up the stairs with her trunk...her incredibly fragile trunk that contained her glass vials, syringes, and other medical supplies.

“Wait! Be careful with that!” Hange tried to pursue them but Miss Rico tugged at the back of her dress before she could take one step up the staircase.

“Miss, you can't go up looking like that!” Hange looked down and could see two maids were trying to scrub the mud off her dress.

“It's not coming off!” One of the servants panicked.

The butler looked upon the situation. “Well, it appears some sackings will surely be in order soon.”

“What are you so worry about, Marlo?” said a footman. “You're the butler. Your position here is already secure. Besides everyone knows that the footmen and kitchen maids are always the first ones to get the boot.”

The kitchen maid next to him gasped. “Connie, don't say that out loud!”

“Oh come on, Sasha. You know it's true.”

“I meant don't say it infront of me!”

Hange could not have been more bewildered by the panic and chaos in the room. And Miss Rico still would not let go of her dress.

“Everyone, please calm down.” A soft voice called from the middle of the stairs. As soon as everyone saw who it was, the servants stopped everything and stood up. A beautiful young lady was descending down the stairs, with a shiny black hair and a complexion uncommon upon most women in Eldia. She wore a casual dress that was still much nicer than anything Hange brought with her. And her shoulders were wrapped by a bright red shawl.

The servants immediately looked upon the young lady. Miss Rico bowed and the others followed suit. “Miss Mikasa! Forgive us for having disturbed you at this hour.”

“It's quite alright, Miss Rico. I'll take Miss Hange up to see him. Just do your best here.” With that assurance Miss Rico could finally let go of Hange's dress. Mikasa was then given her own lit candle from one of the servants. “Please come with me.”

The ladies ascended the stairs to the second floor and down a long hallway decored with family portraits that nearly reached the ceiling. Even with Mikasa's calming aura, Hange was now starting to feel quite intimidated. “Um...excuse me,” she finally spoke up. “I believe that I was supposed to be looking after a woman.”

“You are,” said Mikasa. “I'm afraid Lady Kuchel will already be in bed by this time. I'm sure you'll see her in the morning.”

“So I'm seeing the guy who owns the place?”

“In a sense. Lord Kenny isn't seen much in the manor these days. Besides it wasn't him who made the request for a doctor.” They arrived at the end of the hall with a solitary door of dark oak. Mikasa knocked on it before stepping inside. She took Hange by the hand pulling her into the room.

Hange never knew what to expect of a room belonging to an aristocrat or socialite. It was just as decorative (not to mention clean and immaculate) as the rest of the house but a bit small. The walls were filled with books and in one corner was a large chair facing a roaring fireplace. To her right Hange could see a glass case where hung a military uniform of sorts. Above the fireplace were two swords with long shiny blades.

“Cousin, Miss Hange has arrived.”

The chair infront of the fireplace was so big, Hange was unable to see who could be sitting in it...if anyone at all. She could however see a hand waving for Mikasa to leave the room.

Now Hange was starting to panic. Mikasa had left her alone...well almost alone.

A face finally revealed itself from the side of the chair and all Hange wanted to do was to run downstairs and run. His eyes were piercing her like mad bird ready to strike. He only looked back to take a sip of tea from his cup and then he finally got up to face her.

Hange was able to relax when she saw what she had not expected from the man...how he was a bit shorter than she was. The man was still unimpressed. “Tch, do not tell me you came all the way here looking like that.”

Hange looked down and saw she was still trailing a bit of mud from her dress. Seeing the man's disgust, she knew that this had to be the Master Levi that was spoken of downstairs.

“Well, yes I did,” she said trying to stay confident. “It is storming outside. But that shouldn't be a problem. I should be able to take a look at Miss Kuchel...”

“I'm not letting you anywhere near my mother,” Levi spat at her. “Not until I'm sure that you haven't caught anything while you were out there. Are you even a real doctor or were you trying to deceive me with that letter?”

She feared that this would come up. How many times did people had to question her on just because she was a woman? “I have plenty of medical knowledge,” she explained to him. “Far more than you think. It just hasn't been easy finding work experience in my position...”

“I can see why. I'm starting to question this arrangement, Miss Hange. But I cannot have you making a mess here any longer.”

Levi went over to the wall and pulled on a bell rope. Moments later servants were rushing into the room. “No worries, Master Levi. We'll have this mess cleaned up.”

“Hitch!”

A scraggly maid with wavy light brown hair looked up. “Uh yeah...I mean yes?”

“Have a bath prepared for Miss Hange. If by morning she falls ill, she is to leave this house immediately and never come back.”

Hange protested. “What?! You can't fire me just because I might get sick!”

“Deal with it, shitty glasses. That's my final say on the matter. You're dismissed.”

…

Hange was fuming. The pleasures of a warm bath could only do so much to keep herself from exploding, though she tried her best to enjoy it. Never had she taken a bath in fancy ceramic white tub and never had she needed a maid to do all the scrubbing for her, but this was all on Levi's orders.

“He's a mad-man,” she vented to Hitch. “How is he more concerned about my cleanliness than he is of my ability to take care of his mother?” Hange pulled out her glasses to observe them more carefully. _'And what’s wrong with my glasses?'_

“That’s just Master Levi’s way,” Hitch explained. “Just a bit of advice for you, Miss. Your best to followed his cleaning protocol if you want any chance of staying on his good side.” She dumped another bucket of water on Hange causing her to nearly scream. “He can’t be please much otherwise.”

After enduring an intense scrubbing at Hitch’s hands, Hange was then brought to her bedroom. Surprisingly it wasn’t among the servants’ quarters but a modest guestroom. Levi must not have wanted the servants’ filth to get on her if she was to care for his mother. She had to wear a new nightgown because the dress she wore upon arrival was still getting cleaned downstairs.

This Ploughfields was already proving to be such a strange place. And it didn't help matters that as Hange tried to settle into her new bed (for who knew how long) she could hear a faint moaning coming from the hall. To her knowledge, her room was of equal distance between Miss Kuchel's room and Levi's room. So the source could have been either one of them.

Her mind was spent trying to think how illogical it could have been for ghosts to exist in the manor, and by the time the sun came up, Hange realized that she had not slept a wink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun note: 'Ploughfields' is actually the german translation for 'Ackerman'.
> 
> I promise Levi won't be a jerk for most of this story. Give him time to warm up to Hange. :) Anyway, lemme know what you think and if it's worth continuing. I'm also considering a Levihan one-shot series on the side. Lemme know if you're interested in that too.


	2. Miss Kuchel

Despite a restless first night in the manor, Hange felt relieved that she was in good health. For now, she would still have the job. Of course, after meeting Levi, it was quite possible that anything she did moving forward would push his buttons enough to throw her out for any reason.

Hitch brought her a breakfast of quail eggs, definitely a breakfast of the upper crust and she wasn't even sure how to eat it. More effort seemed put into the presentation of the food than the actual taste. 

She was never going to get use to this lifestyle.

Levi was already waiting for her in the hall when she was dressed. His sour mood from their first meeting the night before had yet to change. Hange couldn't tell if he was possibly disappointed in the fact that she was still sticking around.

Instead, he sighed. “It's time to go see my mother.”

Even though they were just going down the hall, Hange believed it was going to be a frequent occurrence for her to get lost in this house. She needed to learn how to get to Miss Kuchel's room from her own so she did her best to memorize every object, every portrait that she encountered along the way.

When Levi opened the door, Hange wondered if they had come too early. The room was dark and the curtains were still closed despite some sunlight seeping through the cracks. She almost could not see a lone figure sitting in a chair between the bed and the window. Most of the furniture in the room, for some reason, was covered in sheets.

Before she stepped into the room, Levi grabbed her by the arm. “Just be gentle with her.” Surprisingly, it wasn't a threat...but rather a sincere request.

As she entered the room and got closer, Hange could get a better look at her. The woman wasn't as old as Hange thought she would be. She was however, very sickly and frail. She showed no response to the approaching stranger in her room.

And then Hange looked at her eyes. They were looking in opposite directions from another.

“Miss Kuchel,” she softly greeted her. “I'm Dr. Hange.”

No response.

“I'm gonna take a look at you, okay?”

Hange got her stethoscope from the bag of medical supplies she brought with her. She listened to the woman's heartbeat. It was fine. She cautiously tested for all her other vital signs as well. Only her temperature was slightly low but other than that she seemed in decent health.

She decided to try one other test. “Can you look over there for me?” Hange pointed to the direction of the crack in the window curtains that were the only source of light in the room. 

Kuchel turned as Hange reached over to pull one of the curtains slightly, bringing more light into the room.

But as soon as she did, Kuchel turned away and started wailing. 

“Oh god, I'm so sorry!” Hange was panicking. Kuchel was now swinging her upper body in her chair side to side and screaming wildly. And Hange had no idea what to do.

Levi had been watching quietly carefully from the door the whole time. He had sadly expected this outcome and rushed over to the women. “Mother...” he kept saying placing a hand on her knee. “Mother, it's okay.” He turned to Hange hissing “close that curtain, dammit!”

Hange rushed over and made sure the curtain was closed in more than it was before.

It would take another minute before Kuchel would finally calm down.

“I...I…” Hange was struggling to explain herself. “I'm sorry. I was just testing her eyesight. I feared she was blind...”

“Her sight is perfectly fine,” Levi growled. 

“I don't understand...” said Hange. “Then why...”

“Her sickness is more in the head than anything else.”

She looked at Kuchel who seemed completely lost in her own world. And now Hange understood. No ordinary doctor would have been able to assist this woman and the only remedy they would have provided was to have her sent straight to the mental asylum. And the things she knew about those asylums horrified her.

“How long has she been like this?” Hange asked Levi.

“For as long as I can remember.”

Hange was shocked. Levi had been raised by this woman in her state. He had to live with her condition when he was only a boy.

“I think you see now, what is required of you,” he told her. “My staff can only handle so much with her along with their own duties. And I have to maintain this house.”

“What about Lord Kenny?”

“Completely useless. He's not going to be reliable for anything even if he were to show his face around here.” Levi seemed bitter speaking of that man but at least his anger had somewhat ceded. “You would have to be responsible for everything with her...getting her out of bed...going to the bathroom. It will be an all day, everyday commitment until she passes. That could be a very long time. Is that something you're willing to deal with?”

This was too much to take in for Hange. She thought this job would last at most a few weeks. But now she could be stuck living in this house for years, having to deal with Levi on top of things. 

There was however, a potential windfall to come out of this. Her dream of retirement. Even if Levi turned out to be stingy, the pay would still be more than enough. And then there was Kuchel. In any other person's care, she would have been sent away. And not even someone like Levi lacked the heart to do that. How long had he been looking for someone that would agree with him?

“I'll do it.”

Levi flinched. That was not a response he expected.

He walked away to let Hange begin her work. “We dine at 6 each night. What you're wearing now is fine.”

...

Hange had to start things fresh with Kuchel. The fact that she was mute was going to make things more difficult as Hange feared she wouldn't be able to communicate her needs. 

“Why don't we get you dressed?” Hange cheerfully told her. To her surprise, Kuchel lifted one of her frail bony legs. It was only a minor struggle to get her into a simple comfortable dress for the day. Perhaps Kuchel had more awareness than Hange originally realized.

She should have asked Levi if she ever left her bedroom. She wasn't sure exactly how to occupy Kuchel's time between the dressing and the bathing.

This time around, Hange was more careful opening the curtains in Kuchel's room. Kuchel, at first, slightly moaned but then became more relaxed. Looking out the window, Hange could see a beautiful garden. “It looks lovely out there,” she said to Kuchel. “But I think we should take things slowly. I'll take you out there tomorrow and we'll make a day of it. A bit of fresh air will do you some good.”

Kuchel's only response was to blink. Hange had hoped for a little more emotion from her than that but it was in vain.

...

As 6 o'clock drew near, the sun was setting. Hange helped to feed her dinner then dress her back up again for her early bedtime. 

The dining room in Ploughfields was large. The table long but only three people would be occupying it. Hange was sat somewhere in the middle with Levi and Mikasa on opposite ends. Across from Hange was a fourth table setting, which she assumed was for Lord Kenny. The others were already eating, a sure sign that he would be a no show again.

She looked down at her plate of salad. There were multiple forks on one side of the plate and spoons on the other. 

“You're using a dessert fork,” Levi pointed out.

Hange looked at the fork she was holding in her hand and her face turned. “There's a difference?! Oh I just thought this was like how my dinners were when I was growing up. We always had left a lot of dishes on the table without washing them for days you see...”

“Miss Hange.” Levi took a sip of his tea. 

_'Perhaps he didn't want to talk about messes' _, Hange thought. _'Change the topic, quick!'___

__“Your mother was very well behaved today. I was thinking tomo-...”_ _

__Levi slammed his cup on the table. “Miss Hange, I don't like making idle conversation at dinner. Not unless you have an important business matter to discuss with me regarding the future of this house.”_ _

__Mikasa had been used to dinners being like this for years. Often it was just her and Levi in total silence. The servants who attended to them never spoke unless to inquire about wanting a refill or sorts. “Actually, cousin. I do have something we've needed to discuss. You promised me that you would make a decision...”_ _

__Hange was curious but Levi frowned, almost knowing what was to come next._ _

__“...about Eren Yeager?”_ _

__Levi scoffed. “You think that brat will ever propose to you? You've completely lost your senses.”_ _

__“We've thought about it since we were children. He said that once he's build enough from his father's inheritance...”_ _

__“Which will be never considering what the Yeagers make. Didn't Jean Kirschstein already make a proposal to you?”_ _

__“I've already rejected it,” Mikasa sneered. “Because unlike you, I don't treat getting married like a business deal!”_ _

__Hange wanted to cower under the table. She kept her eyes away from the reddening look on Levi's face. His fist made contact with the table a bit too hard causing the dishes to slightly clatter._ _

__“You've lived here long enough, Mikasa. You know how this works. You don't get to make those kinds of decisions for the sake of your feelings.”_ _

__“Kenny wouldn't care.”_ _

__“Kenny is not in charge of your well-being like I am! I'm the only one here who's been trying to hold this place together. You want to destroy all of that for a pinky-swear? Be my guest, because you'll end up with nothing when it's all over!”_ _

__Silence. The silence was bad. And Hange was too nervous to leave the table. She looked over at Mikasa who seemed rather hurt but wasn't scared. How often did they fight like this, Hange wondered?_ _

__Mikasa would not look across the table. “I think I know what this is really about, cousin. But I'll tell you that you're wrong. Eren Yeager will propose to me and when he does, I intend to accept...no matter what happens.”_ _

__She was the first to stand up from her seat and left the dining room. Moments later, Levi and Hange were sitting in silence, which was only disrupted by a slamming door from upstairs._ _

__Hange didn't consider Levi's fuming anger as she tried to lighten up the mood. "Well this has been a very lovely dinner."_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the reviews.


	3. The Fox Hunt

Of all the staff in Ploughfields, Moblit had reason to be the most nervous. He was Levi's personal valet. He had to spend more time with Levi than anyone in the house, making sure he was properly dressed for whatever important event he had that day, as well as making sure his clothes were in top notch condition.

A crooked tie or a loose thread would have easily set him on edge.

And today, Levi was being unusually quiet. Word had spread throughout the staff that Levi and Mikasa had a major fight at dinner the night before and the anger was still quite prominent on Levi's face. 

Moblit could only hope and pray that he got the buttons on Levi's shirt on properly.

“Moblit.”

“Yes sir?”

“I'm thinking of giving you another job.”

 _'Another job?!'_ Moblit's mind screamed. Levi didn't sound to pleased. It could have meant anything but by all accounts...it could only mean a demotion or worse yet…

He wondered if he should start panicking and begging.

But then Levi spoke. “That new doctor woman. I want you to keep an eye on her.”

Moblit sighed in relief. “Oh, is that all, sir?”

“I also want you to report to me if she does anything stupid.”

 _'That could mean anything_ ,' Moblit thought. 

But rather than face Levi's wrath, he quietly went along with his orders. Not like he had much of a choice about it. Problem was, in a house as big as Ploughfields, it took Moblit nearly a day to finally fine Hange.

She was outside, pushing Miss Kuchel in a wheelchair through the gardens out back. 

Moblit didn't think much of it. The situation seemed harmless.

After a disastrous first day, Hange managed to turn things around with Miss Kuchel. She was understanding her needs and wants much better now and she was accommodating them greatly. Her checkups also seemed to be improving which made Hange feel good. She was providing her the right kind of medicine that the other staff often struggled to give her. And taking her on walks outside, gave Kuchel fresh air and a sense of freedom she wasn't getting being cooped up in her room all day.

Hange felt good about what was happening. She wished she could tell Levi all about what was happening but after that dinner, she decided not to say much of anything anymore unless it was required of her to do so.

And the dinners themselves remained tense. Mikasa, to no one's surprise, wasn't seen in the dining hall much anymore. So the meal time was unusually quiet with just the two of them.

And this is what Levi wanted, right? So why was it after so many days it was starting to get to him?

He decided to get some info from Moblit. “You haven't given me any news in a few days, Moblit. Are you hiding anything from me?”

“No sir!” he squeaked. “Why would I hide anything from you?”

“Miss Hange won't speak to me. So what can you tell me about how she is treating my mother?”

“Oh they're doing great,” Moblit said confidentially. “She has been taking her outside everyday and...”

Levi quickly grabbed him by the collar. “Outside?! It's the middle of November! Why would you wait to tell me this?!”

“I'm sorry!” Moblit cried. “I didn't think you'd be mad about it.”

Levi dropped his valet and went outside to find Hange quickly.

“What do you think you're doing?!”

“Oh morning, Captain,” Hange greeted him. “That's your ranking, isn't it?” She knew Levi was a military man and wanted to be respectful of that ranking.

In truth he didn't but that was beside the point. “Why would you bring my mother out here? She'll catch her death from cold! I thought you were a doctor!”

“It's perfectly fine,” Hange protested. “And not even that cold. You haven't once wanted to know since I started here how well she is doing. So why do you care now?”

'The nerve of her,' Levi thought. No one outside of Mikasa, ever talked back to him like that. And Marlow had arrived at the right moment to witness it. Even he was about to faint just seeing someone speak to the master like that. 

“Pardon me, Master...but Colonel Erwin has arrived for the fox hunt.”

“Dammit,” Levi growled and turned back to Hange. “Just bring her back inside. We'll discuss this later.” He was forced to return with Marlow with the manor so that he could dress in proper attire for the event.

...

Colonel Erwin was one of the few people in Levi's life that he had ever tolerated, not just because he was his superior when they served in the Titan Wars. In many ways, Levi was only able to adjust and fit into this world because of his positive influence and even paid for his education when Kenny was not able. And it was in Erwin's nature as he was a generous man, a rarity in the upper crust of Eldian society.

So every couple of weeks or so, Levi agreed to do these events with him no matter how unthrilled he was about it. Fox hunting involved a lot of mess and too many hunting dogs to look after. And Levi didn't like getting on a horse for the fun of it, especially when he was teased for having to ride a smaller horse than his companions to accommodate for his smaller stature.

“The weather is colder now,” said Levi. “You really think they're going to be out here this late in the year?”

“Of course,” Erwin assured him. “They'll be much slower for your pony to catch up.”

They heard a snort from the third man who was with them. “Shut up, Mike,” Levi grumbled. “Why don't you sniff them out since these dogs are useless?”

“My nose is better for pheasant hunting,” said Mike. “The wet dog smell is too strong on this ground.”

The hills they hunted in were a vast countryside between Ploughfields and Colonel Erwin's estate. It gave the dogs plenty of space to run. But after an hour, they were still unsuccessful in locating any foxes.

“Levi, I will admit that I had an ulterior motive for today. About the Christmas Ball...”

Levi cut off Erwin. “No.”

Somehow he expected that answer and not just because Christmas just happened to also be Levi's birthday. “Your absence has been noted from it for three years. And not just by me and my mother...”

“They'll get over it,” Levi said. 

“Have you?” Erwin was uncertain if that question was going too far. “No one blames you for not attending them anymore. But this year might have to be different, especially when Eldia is on the verge of a war with Marley. There's only so much that Queen Historia can do to stop it. But if war is declared...it could be the last time any of us might see each other.”

Levi hated admitting that Erwin was right. If war did get declared, they would all have to be called to service. The Titan Wars were a much simpler affair compared to what a war with an empire like Marley would cause. Levi came back from that war a different man. Another war would have the same damaging effect if not greater.

“I know my gatherings are too elaborate for your taste,” Erwin said. “But it might do you some good to take your mind off of things, enjoy what little time any of us have with our good fortune.”

In truth, Levi didn't mind them. Erwin always put on the most grandest affairs at his home and the Christmas Ball was the biggest annual event in the county without question. The company which often attended the event, however, seemed to look down on Levi...even pity him at times.

They knew he didn't fit in with the rest of their kind.

Mike sniffed the air then looked up at the sky. “I smell a storm coming.”

Shadows began to form all throughout the hills. “Now's a time good as any to turn back,” said Erwin.

Levi disagreed. They had yet to bag a single fox. He had his horse head off in the direction where the hunting dogs last tracked a potential scent.

“Levi!”

Despite Erwin's calls Levi was already heading out into the dark woods as the winds were picking up. Erwin and Mike were left to gather the dogs together and head back.

…

Hange had been grumbling since she and Kuchel had to go back into the house. There was now nothing for them to do except to spend the time in Kuchel's bedroom and watch the oncoming storm roll in through the window. Only when the sound of thunder became too much for Miss Kuchel did Hange decide to close the curtain.

She was nearing the point where she was reconsidering this position. Levi was becoming to unbearable for her to the point that he can't even let her do her job. But the idea of abandoning Miss Kuchel in her state made the idea of quitting all the more difficult. 

“Help! Help!” 

Hange could hear the cry outside the bedroom and rushed out into the hall. The staff were scrambling towards the same direction.

“It's Master Levi!”

In the main entryway, Moblit was half carrying a very wet Levi who was still in his hunting attire all muddied up and the side of his face was bleeding. He didn't seem conscious.

“What happened?!”

“His horse slipped and fell down the hillside.”

“Get him to his room, quickly!” Hange hurried back to her room to grab her medical supplies. She was only able to find her way back to Levi's room in the big house due to all the commotion. 

Moblit and Marlow carried Levi all the way to his bed. The rest of the staff anxiously attended to the blood and mud that was being trailed behind. They were even about to remove his stained bedsheets.

“Forget about that!” said Hange. “I have to tend to him first!”

“But Miss Hange...”

“Don't worry about Levi. He'll just have to deal with it.” Hange ordered the staff to get some rags so she could wipe the blood from Levi's face and work on getting him bandaged. He had taken a nasty kick by a horse's hoof to the head but thankfully it didn't need stitches. It did frighten her, however, that beneath the bruising, Levi looked much pale than usual. 

A sign that fever was imminent.

And within the next couple of hours, her worst fears were realized when Levi's head got warmer. He was burning up. His breathing was a constant struggle.

There was very little in the way of medicine that Hange could provide for him as treatment for a fever was still a rarity. From her schooling she was taught that draining blood from his arm was still a viable solution but she thought that to be madness. The idea of making him bleed that much with no guarantee of success was too terrifying for her.

What choice did she have though? 

“I need everyone to keep a safe distance from him,” she told the staff. The last thing she needed was for Levi's fever to infect the rest of the house.

She then went back to her room to retrieve a small glass box. It had thankfully been undisturbed since her arrival here which surprised her since inside were two living leeches. She brought them to Levi's bedroom and proceeded with the delicate process of places the leeches on his arm.

“Okay, Sawney...Bean...” Yes, she had named them. “Do your best with him.”

A sudden gasp came from Levi. Hange could see that one of the leeches (Sawney she thinks) manage to break through and now blood was coming out. She had a bowl ready to collect it.

Night did not stop her progress. The staff were on standby despite the risks. Regardless of how unbearable Levi was as their master, they were all still hoping for him to pull through.

When Hange stepped out of room to give Levi some sleep, Mikasa was already waiting outside. “Miss Hange, is cousin…?”

Hange didn't know for sure. “Well, if he can make it through tonight, that's our best chance.”

Mikasa was on the verge of tears. There was a sense of guilt that was still felt from their fight days before. So Hange hugged her. Mikasa felt so grateful for that.

…

Levi groaned having little recollection of what happened the day before other than Erwin and Hange getting on his nerves again. Then he slowly opened his eyes to the fact that he was in his bed with one side of his body bandaged, shirtless.

Hange was asleep in a chair on the far end of the bed.

“Oi.” Levi's voice was weak. “You don't have my permission to be in here.”

It seemed like she was waking up but instead she was muttering. “You're wrong.”

“What?” Levi was confused.

“About Mikasa.” Hange must have been so exhausted to be talking like this. “She loves this Eren Yeager guy. So why can't she marry him?”

He decided to humor her since he was trapped in this bed. “I'm doing what's best for her. It's not an option for a family like ours to marry for love. It's something we have to give up for the greater good. Though I bet you've never had to know what that's like.”

Hange was now more awake giving Levi a half-smile. “You'd be wrong about that, too.”

Levi wanted to know more but his eyes were getting heavy again. This time he could not fight Hange who was tucking him in and feeling his forehead, filled with relief that his fever had broken.


	4. Lord Kenny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi backstory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not expect this chapter to be as long as it turned out to be.

_He remembers the cold, always the bitter cold._

_He could see the stars in the sky and thought that if only his tiny hands could reach them, then maybe it would provide him more warmth than what he was bundled in…or even ease his never-ending hunger._

_His mother was doing the best she could. Her arm was always reaching out to the passing figures on the street dressed in finer wear than they._

_The gentlemen would only sneer and laugh in disgust. “When are they going to get this filth off our streets?”_

_With each passing night, her face was becoming more pale, more distorted. No longer was she greeting him with the warm smiles and comforting lullabies he had first heard from her._

_She was slowly becoming something not of this world._

~

Levi opened his eyes, nearly jumping out of his bed. He put a hand to his head and could feel all the sweat dripping down. 

He looked around realizing that it was the daytime and that he was in the warmth of his own bedroom.

A dream, he thought to himself...or perhaps a memory. He didn't know anymore.

He was surprised to find that Hange was no longer in the room with him. Then it occurred to him that he no longer felt sore from his accident. He had to have been bedridden for days.

Desperately needing to get out of the room, Levi pulled the bell rope to summon Moblit and he got him dressed in some modest autumn clothing. “Have you seen, Hange?”

“Um...I think she would be in the gardens again with Miss Kuchel,” said Moblit. “Do you want me to keep an eye on them again?”

“No,” said Levi. “I'll do it.”

This surprised Moblit, making Levi wonder if he should have came up with some sort of excuse for doing so. But Levi was in charge and could set and change rules at will.

The gardens in the back of Ploughfields were massive, almost a maze in a sense. When he found Hange, he did not approach her but rather stood back to see how she handled his mother. It was strange to see her somewhere other than her bedroom and it did worry Levi a bit how it was getting colder outside.

“Morning, Mr. Arlert.” Hange greeted the gardener. “Heard from your grandson lately?”

“Indeed. Good ol' Armin is doing splendid. The university absolutely loves 'im. They'll be begging 'im to be their professor in a year!”

Levi was getting bothered by the fact that Hange had become quite friendly with all the staff at Ploughfields. They were clearly far more relaxed and calm around the likes of Hange and Mikasa compared to him. But he had every reason to be strict.

He went back into the house where the staff were already hard at work in their daily cleaning routines. It took the vast majority of their duties during the day. Levi walked by a stand in the hallway but it wasn't the dirt that caught his eye...it was the fact that it was empty.

“Miss Rico,” he asked the housekeeper. “Is the vase that is normally here getting cleaned?”

She was quite nervous. “Oh, I'm not quite sure. Lemme think who would be in charge of that.”

But Levi already had a bad feeling. “Call all the staff to the main hall, now.”

Within ten minutes, every employee in the house gathered in the main hall feeling completely anxious. Talk of Levi firing some of them had been hanging in the air for quite some time putting some more than others on edge.

Levi spoke to them and he wasn't too happy. “One of you is a thief.”

There was silence, and then the cook spoke up. “That'll be Sasha Blouse! She be pilfering potatoes from the kitchens again!”

The kitchen maid panicked. “What?! How could you accuse me of such a thing?!” 

There was a sudden gasp from everyone when a half eaten potato suddenly fell from Sasha's apron pocket and onto the floor. “It's not what you think!” she shrieked.

“I'm not talking about the food,” Levi said coldly. “I'm talking about a rare Hizurian vase we had in the hallway. We've already had a painting from the study stolen weeks ago. And since we've never found that thief, it's time I do something about it. If no one comes forward within three days, everyone in this room will be sacked!”

The staff were in absolute terror as Levi stormed off. On his way out of the main hall, he took one look at Sasha who was on the verge of fainting. “Pull yourself together,” he said in disgust.

Hange had been listening in on the whole meeting and confronted Levi. “You don't have any evidence that they did anything!”

“They're the only ones who have access to this house outside of you,” Levi said trying to ignore her. He could not tell her that he needed to fire some people anyway as he could not afford half of the staff working here for much longer. Now he had to cope with the fact that anything valuable in the house was disappearing on him.

It made Levi want to go back into his room and tear everything up.

…

The first snow of the season finally arrived in Ploughfields the following night.

Hange was upset about the possibility that some of the friends she had made here would soon be gone due to Levi's own stubbornness than anything else. She had gone out to the gardens in her street clothes. They were men's street clothes but they were more comfortable for her in weather like this. She wanted to look at the beauty of the manor all covered in white snow.

But then, she noticed a light appearing from one of the side doors of the house and then a figure stepped outside. The night had gotten so dark, that she couldn't make any details of who it was from where she stood. She stood behind a pillar and watched the figure walk past her unknowingly. She could hear clinking noises from the bag the suspicious person was carrying.

She regretted not taking action in that moment and jumping the person, whoever they were. The stranger was already making a quick getaway to the main entry gate, despite the snow.

Hange's only option now was to quietly follow them from behind. The one good thing that the snow provided was tracks for her to follow.

Unknown to either of them, Levi had been looking out his bedroom window and could see two shadows, distant from each other, slowly going past the entry gate and down the road.

He hurried downstairs in his coat and managed to run into his stableman, Mr. Ness. He was about to call it a night but Levi demanded he give him a horse. So he gave him his best winter horse, Charette. Mr. Ness attempted to warn Levi about something, but he was already losing time and patience and he got on the horse and took off quickly.

He would follow the two sets of tracks in the snow...both heading in the direction of the nearby village. The trail ended at the only building in the village teeming with life inside and out during that dark hour...a local tavern called The Three Walls.

Trost was a quiet and quaint village. But being small and closest to Ploughfields, the people there were certain to know who Levi was. He tipped the hat he wore deeper in hopes it would help hide his more noticeable features.

Inside the tavern the people were loud and boisterous, many taking part in games or drink. A man in the corner was playing the violin which sounded more like screeching than actual music.

His eyes then quickly scanned the room coming across the back of a tall person wearing a long coat and a rugged boy's cap. The two features he barely recognized from his window when he first spotted them.

His hand went straight for the stranger's shoulder. “Think you're gonna get off that easy?” He turned the person around. 

He did not expect the face staring back at him in shock to be Hange.

“Levi!”

Levi's eyes widened. “You! What are you doing here?!” He also wanted to ask why she was dressed the way she was.

Hange shushed him. “Quiet! I think I found your thief.”

“What?”

Hange pointed Levi to a table in the far corner. “The man over there, the one taking off his hat.”

Sure enough when the man took off his hat, Levi noticed the balding at the top with thin hair coming down the back to his shoulders. The man seemed to be dressed like the upper-class but was all torn and dirty. 

Levi stormed over as the man pulled out some familiar-looking silver plates and bowls from the bag he was carrying to show to another bloke sitting across from him.

“I'm telling you this is genuine silver. Think it used to belong to my great grand-pappy or somethin'. So how much will you gimme for it?”

“KENNY!”

The man turned around and greeted Levi. “Nephew! How are things goin' at the house?”

Levi grabbed him by the collar. “Why don't you tell me since you were just there.” It now made sense that Kenny was the thief. He was the only other person that could come and go in the house unchecked. “You took the painting and the vase, didn't you?”

“Ah, didn't think you'd notice they were gone,” said Kenny. “Guess you don't miss a beat.”

Hange couldn't believe it. This was the notorious Lord Kenny? The man who owned all of Ploughfields? Why did he seem and act like a town drunk?

But the man's eyes locked on her proximity to Levi. “Who's this?” he asked Levi. He got up and removed Hange's hat. “Thought you could hide a lady under there, Levi?”

“Back off of her,” Levi growled.

But Kenny just laughed. “Weird one you picked up.”

Hange decided to speak up. “Kuchel is your sister, is she not? Well I'm the doctor who's taking care of her.”

“Are you now?” said Kenny. “Well best of luck to ya. I only agreed to bring in a doc cause nephew here insisted on it. Ain't much your gonna do for her though considering how she went crazy.”

“That's enough, Kenny.”

“Oh come on, Levi. Don't tell me she don't know the truth about you. Of course not. You play the rich stiff so well, keeping that house clean all the time.” 

Levi's face was turning red, and not in a pleasant way. It only made matters worse when Kenny wrapped an arm over Hange's shoulders. “I'll let you in on a little secret, sweetheart,” he whispered to her. “Levi here may have money in his blood. But the first time I ever laid eyes on him, he was skinny as a shrimp and sleeping in a goat stall. Kid was living in a workhouse.”

Hange felt a firm grasp of her arm. “We're leaving!” said Levi. With his other arm, he put the silver back in the bag. “And I'm taking these back with me. Find another way to pay off your gambling debts. The house is off-limits to you!”

“Go ahead,” Kenny called out to him laughing. “That stuff's worth more than our entire family line now. You're wasting your time trying to save that place!”

Levi pulled Hange out of the tavern, which she secretly admitted she was grateful. But he finally let go once they were outside. It was much colder than it was when they first arrived but that was the least of Hange's concerns.

“Levi?”

He wasn't listening. He was too focused on prepping Charette and loading the silver on.

The shame of what Kenny had just exposed to Hange was too much for him.

~

_The truth in his words only brought Levi back to that cramped goat-stall that he shared with his mother. Mentally she was no longer there. Being only 8 or so, Levi took on the sole responsibility of toiling long hours in the workhouse to gather enough food for the two of them to split each day. (It was still never enough.) He also worked to get them some soiled blankets so that they could survive the cold. He had a vague memory of the two of them living in the streets and begging for food before this. Now he started to think that maybe that was far more preferable._

_They lacked privacy as many other folk in their situation occupied goat stalls on either side of them. The roof they all shared provided little shelter from the elements. Levi had been so used to this that he took no heed of the strange rough-looking gentleman that was looking into each stall. He wore a suit that was clearly torn up and a top hat that had a hole punched in. The cane must have been for dramatic effect._

_“Kuchel?” The man peeked in on Levi's stall looking at the woman who was lying there in the hay. “Whew, you look like shit! Then again, you must've been sleepin' in it too.”_

_Levi jumped up. “What do you want?” he asked him nervously._

_“Easy kid. That your ma?”_

_“What's it to you?”_

_“I see.” He reached a hand out. “The name's Kenny. How you doin'?”_

_Levi refused to touch the man's hand._

_“Kuchel's my sister,” he said. “So I guess that makes you my next of kin.”_

_“Wha-what do you want from us?”_

_“Only to bring you guys home.”_

_Levi blinked. “Home? Home where?”_

_“Would you believe me if I told you it's like a castle?”_

_There was no response. Of course Levi didn't believe him. “Okay then,” said Kenny. He pulled something out of his pocket and Levi's eyes widened as he opened his hand to reveal six pure gold coins. “And there's a lot more in our family where that came from. Lots more. Heck, you'll probably have as much as the queen once you get to my age.”_

_But something really bothered Levi about all of this. “I...I don't understand,” he muttered. “If we're family then why have we never…?” He looked around at his mother and at the goat stall they've called home for years. “How did we end up here?”_

_Kenny took off his head and rubbed it. “Eh...long story. Not sure how to explain it.” He got down to Levi's level. “Let's just say your mom and I...we weren't the best behaved of kids. And our pa, your grandpa, well...he was a rather strict guy. You see, your mom did something she wasn't supposed to do in a family like ours. Where I come from, people don't take too kindly to women foolin' around and you know...having babies so young without a husband.”_

_Levi now understood why he never had a father._

_“Pa wasn't too happy about it,” Kenny explained. “I wasn't around when it happened, but I found out later that he kicked her out. Gave her the ol' schpeil about bringing shame to the family...wrote her out of the will and all of that. Anyway none of that don't matter now. My old man's kicked the bucket, so now I'm in charge. Guess I took too long lookin' for ya though.”_

_Levi saw Kenny eying his mother again. This would be the only time he would ever see genuine sadness in the man. “I heard living on the streets too long could really do a number on ya. Looks like you've made it out better than she did. So what do you say? Might help 'er to finally see home again. You think so?”_

_He still did not trust him. Kenny was still a stranger in every sense of the word and what he was proposing almost sounded like a fairy tale._

_The man promised to return the following day...leaving Levi, still only a child, to think about the biggest decision he would have to make of his young life._

_And when he finally did, he shared that decision with the only two people outside his mother that he ever knew...the ones he considered family and helped him to survive this awful life._

_They didn't take it too well._

_“Furlan, stop!”_

_The older boy was about to throw a punch at Levi, but the little girl, Isabel, held him back. “You traitor!” the boy yelled at him. “You're leaving us to live with a bunch of rich snobs! That's what you're doing!”_

_How could Levi get him to understand? “I...I have to do this...for my mom,” he said weakly._

_“You liar! You're doing this cause you think you're too good for this place. Am I right? You'll forget about us in a week.”_

_“Please, stop fighting,” Isabel pleaded. “Big brother will never forget us, will you?”_

_Levi found the strength to get up. “No,” he said to her. “I'll come back. I promise you both, when I'm able to...I'll use the money to come back for both of you and we'll all finally be free of this place. You'll see!”_

_Soon after, Kenny came for him and his mother. The journey to this Ploughfields was long with Kenny going on about how Levi would have all kinds of servants to boss around._

_When they finally arrived, however, he was in for a shock._

_The mansion was in a horrid state. Vines and weeds took over much of the outside. Dust and mold covered the rooms inside. Some rooms had not been touched in years. The staff was only a few persons who did nothing other than get Kenny food._

_He had promised to turn Levi into a gentleman, yet Levi wasn't feeling any different living with Kenny._

_That was until he met his neighbor, Colonel Erwin._

_He managed to find a boys school for Levi to attend, one that would help Levi better understand the new way of life he was just thrown into. Kenny clearly didn't have the funds for such a school (and also not around for Levi much), but the Colonel did. He saw real potential in Levi's future and was willing to invest in it._

_Boys school was an experience Levi wanted to forget. It did teach him the necessities of being a gentleman. But he had to endure bullying from other boys who eventually learned of his former life in the workhouse. They constantly reminded him that he had no place among the wealthy of Eldia._

_No matter how much he wanted to leave it all, Levi had to think about his mother. If he got better at this, then maybe she would get better._

_The years went on. Levi took on learning the importance of finance and tried to make a living however he could. Then a greater opportunity came in his late teens. He decided to join the military. Perhaps if he had a military title, then it would gain him far more respect in the community than simply just being Levi._

_With the wealth he slowly gained, Levi took it upon himself to hire more staff and put all of them to work fixing up the estate and keeping it in pristine condition. Never again, would it fall into disrepair. Never again, would he be reminded of his past life in the workhouse._

_It was shortly after he gained his captain title did he now have the freedom to see Furlan and Isabel again._

_He made the difficult return to the city getting whatever information he could on the pair. It brought him to the workhouse archives._

_“Ah yes...Furlan Church and Isabel Magnolia…” The man in the archives office spent an hour looking for their names. “It appears they've been listed among the deceased.”_

_Levi froze. Dead? They were both dead?_

_“Horrific accident, some years ago.” The man read the records. “Seems the boy caught his body in some machinery. The girl was decapitated trying to save him.”_

_He had been too late...many years too late._

_And he had promised them…_

_The only way that Levi could cope with their loss was to turn his back from the past forever. He would become more stingy...more snobbish as a result, more the type of man people expected the sole heir of Ploughfields to become._

_Money continued to be a struggle in the household as he realized that Kenny had a gambling habit, believing it to be the solution to all their problems. Worse still, after so many years, his mother's condition never improved. He had finally accepted that she would be like this to her death._

_In times of stress like this, Levi could not have cared less if they were to lose Ploughfields tomorrow and he ended up back on the streets._

_That all change the day a little girl arrived at their gate._

_“Says her name's Mikasa Ackerman. Whaddya know?” said Kenny as he was reading the letter. It explained how the girl's parents had been brutally murdered and that Levi and Kenny were identified as her nearest kin._

_“What do we do with her?” Levi asked him._

_“Well, says here the only other place for her would be with some rich lady in Hizuru that she's also related to.”_

_“Hizuru's on the other side of the world!”_

_“Do what you want with her then. I'm headin' into town.” Levi was getting so annoyed with Kenny constantly ditching him like this. He was still only a young man._

_Once again, much like with his mother, Levi had to make a difficult decision. He was far more reluctant this time around and still unsure why he even decided to do it. Perhaps she reminded him too much of what he was before he came here himself._

_By nightfall, the little girl was settling into her new home in Ploughfields. Levi knew nothing about caring for children, but at least Mikasa was well-behaved, if not shy. At least the staff seemed to absolutely adore her._

_Levi's service in the military would not allow him to give the child the full attention and care that she needed. He hoped that she did not think ill of him when he made the decision to send her off to a boarding school in a town called Shiganshina with the promise that she could return for the Christmas holiday._

_Looking back on it now, Levi now wished he had chosen a different school. Shiganshina would be the place where she would first meet Eren Yeagar._

_And in the end, Eren would be the least of Levi's problems, nor the last._

~

“Levi, wait!”

Levi got on the horse trying to ignore Hange. “For what? Does it satisfy you to know the truth of your employer?”

Hange smiled. “Actually, I am kinda relieved.”

This surprised Levi.

“When I first came here, I thought your whole family would be the same...snobby, pretentious, and never having to understand or think about anyone outside of your own little world. I see what you have to put up with now with Kenny. And you wouldn't be so hard on me if you didn't care about your mother. The same goes for Mikasa.”

Levi sighed. “None of it will matter. I'll have nothing left for Mikasa to inherit...”

Hange screamed. “Let go of me, stupid horse!”

Charette had managed to grab some of Hange's ponytail and try to chew on it like it was hay.

“So that's what Mr. Ness was trying to warn me,” said Levi. He pulled on the reins to get the damn horse to stop till it finally let go. The drool in Hange's hair froze quickly.

“Hop on,” he ordered Hange reaching out a hand.

“You...you want me to get on? Won't that slow you down?”

“Less chance you'll freeze to death than going on foot.”

Hange finally relented to letting Levi help her on and taking a seat behind him. It did little to ease the cold she was feeling.

On their way out of the village, they came upon an old man sitting against a wall wrapped in blankets. Levi pulled some coins out from his pocket and tossed them into the metal cup the man had. 

There really was humility in him, Hange thought.

When they got back to Ploughfields, Levi ordered her to take a hot bath, not that he needed to. Hange never felt better afterwards. But it only led to endless murmuring in the staff's quarters that night about Levi and Hange coming home late from a bar together.


	5. The Christmas Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1\. It wouldn't be me if I didn't write a Christmas themed chapter till after Christmas.
> 
> 2\. You thought Levi's backstory was tragic...
> 
> 3\. ...I just made it worse (sorry Levi).
> 
> ANGST!!!!!!!!!!

It took a bit of coaxing by Hange to get Levi to address his staff the next day.

“The thief has been found. So your positions, for now, are safe.”

Amidst the mutterings and sighs of relief by the staff, Hange nudged Levi again. “Oh...and, sorry for accusing all of you.”

Hange leaned over to him and whispered. “That wasn't so hard, was it?”

Hitch seemed to be the only one who seemed to take notice of how comfortable Hange now seemed around the captain. 

And it continued well into the winter...when everyone was confined to the house due to all the cold and snow. Hange would take Miss Kuchel down to the study room where she would read to her from the extensive book collection there.

“That sounds boring.”

Hange nearly jumped out of her chair. Levi was leaning there by the doorway.

“What?!”

Levi pointed at the book in her hands. “What you're reading to her. You think she'd be interested in this Diogenes guy? If she's going to be stuck in here, you might as well read her something a bit more compelling than an informational book.

Hange scoffed at this. She was trying to enlighten Miss Kuchel which she thought Levi would have appreciated. But he was already searching the shelves for another book. “Hmm, this one's written by a woman, apparently. Might peak her interest.”

The book was Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_.

“Oh,” said Hange. “I've heard of this one. I've always wanted to read it.”

She got through reading nearly half of the novel allowed on that first day. Her excitement so consuming, she didn't realize that Levi had been in the room with them.

“You're not busy with anything?” she asked him.

“Not like I had anything better to do.”

He came back to the study the next couple of days so he could hear her finish reading the story to his mother, and Hange looked forward to that.

Hitch was passing by the study and they were already on another novel.

“I'm telling you what I saw,” she told the others in the basement. “They're spending a lot more time together.”

“Oh that's so sweet,” said Sasha. “You think that maybe they'll...”

“Don't be ridiculous,” Miss Rico butted in. “Miss Hange is here to take care of Miss Kuchel. That's all there is to it.”

Moblit nervously spoke up. “Well...suppose that there is something. You think that maybe she should know?”

“About what?”

“About you know...the late-”

Miss Rico put a hand up to Moblit's face. “Master Levi said we are to never speak of them again, even if he's not around.”

“Yeah, let's not screw this up,” said Connie. “As long as she stays, he might actually go easy on us.”

They had less time for more gossip as Christmas drew near. Everyone was busy decorating the manor for Christmas. Normally, Levi would have discouraged dressing up the house, but it became a tolerated tradition since Mikasa came to live there. He did make it a rule that they were not to celebrate his birthday on that same day. So at least there was that.

Colonel Erwin had been making a couple of more visits to Ploughfields for this and that. But Levi knew the real intent. He was hoping to once again convince Levi to attend his Christmas Ball.

“I have a suggestion,” said Erwin.

“I don't think I wanna hear it,” said Levi.

“Have Miss Hange accompany you.”

Levi nearly choked on his tea. “You can't be serious.”

“I am serious. Don't you get she'll enjoy it? It's sure to get everyone's attention.”

“That's what I'm worried about.”

Erwin knew why he was being stubborn like this. “She doesn't know about them?”

“I don't see why it's any of her business,” Levi told him. 

“Well, I'm not saying you have to tell her. I'm just saying don't let them hold you back. I don't think 'she' would have wanted that for you.”

Levi had been doing his best for the past several years to push them out of his thoughts. Every reminder in the house had already been wiped clean.

Before he knew it, Christmas eve had finally arrived. 

It was quiet and calm, but Hange was quite delighted. It was going to be her first Christmas in an extravagant manor and she was content with sipping some tea and taking in all the decorations. The staff were likely attending to Mikasa since she was going to attend some major gala tonight and by the sounds of it, that Eren Yeagar boy was also going to be there.

Levi was probably somewhere else in the manor sulking, she thought.

That was until he found her reading a book in one of the many parlor rooms.

He was staring at her. She was about ready to get snarky with him.

“You'll have to do,” he told her.

Hange was surprised. “Have to do what?”

Levi pulled on the bell rope. A minute later, Miss Rico appeared. “Yes, Master?”

“Have Miss Hange ready to join us tonight.”

“Tonight?” The housekeeper was puzzled. “You mean for dinner?”

“No,” said Levi. “I meant for the ball at Colonel Erwin's.”

“The ball?!” Both women shouted out at the same time.

“Have her bathed and in something suitable.”

Hange thought this had to be some sort of joke. Whether on her or Miss Rico, she wasn't sure.

“You're going, Master Levi? But that's only a few hours from now.”

“Then I suggest you get to it quickly,” he said.

As soon as he left, Miss Rico led Hange back to her bedroom. “Please tell me you have something to wear.”

Hange opened her wardrobe which had nothing but a few black day dresses and a pair of worn boots.

The silence of the house ceased and utter chaos reigned. The male staff were abuzz over their Master's intent to go to the ball. For the women, it was another story.

“I need every maid on this,” Miss Rico ordered. “Search the attic. Search every wardrobe in the entire house! Where's Mina?”

“Still attending to Mikasa, I think,” said Sasha.

“You're going to have to help.”

While Hitch was busy scrubbing Hange in the bath, the maids ran around the manor searching for any suitable dresses. But once Hange tried them on, they seem to instantly fall apart on her due to the age of the clothes and her size.

“This is a monstrosity,” said Hitch. “Oh sorry! I shouldn't have said that out loud!”

“We're running out of time,” said Miss Rico. “There has to be something.”

Eventually, they took desperate measures and found an old dress in Miss Kuchel's old wardrobe. The size was near decent. While some of the maids went to work altering the dress and giving it a fancy update, the others worked on Hange's hair.

Moblit couldn't believe that he was getting Levi's military suit from out of the glass case it was collecting dust in and having it cleaned and polished for the first time in years. He was near having a nervous breakdown when he finally had to dress him in it. Would it still fit?

Thankfully it did.

The hour to depart approached and Mikasa was waiting in the main hall in her frilly red party gown. She was shocked to see Levi coming down in his white military suit. 

“I never thought you would ever be going to one of these again,” said Mikasa.

“Let's not make a big deal of it.” Levi was getting agitated. “What's taking that damn Four-Eyes so long?”

He looked up the stairway expecting to see Hange on her way down.

He had not expect to see a stranger...or she might as well have been.

The green silk dress shimmered in the low lit hall. For the first time in her life, Hange's hair was curled (to the best of the maid's ability) up in a bun. The one thing that remained purely her was her eyeglasses.

Mikasa couldn't contain her excitement. “Miss Hange, you look so beautiful!”

“I feel so weird,” Hange said. “I hope no one will see my shoes under this.”

Levi scoffed. “That's what you're worried about?” He needed to keep his focus away from her for the moment. “Let's get going. The coach is outside.”

…

Hange surely thought that this was the wrong place.

The Smith Estate was three times the size of Ploughfields. It was almost comparable to the Queen's Palace, which she had only seen in pictures.

They were among many coaches lining up to the entryway one by one. The grandeur on the outside of the estate was even greater on the inside. They were all being led into a ballroom, larger than the biggest room in Ploughfields. Just as Levi knew it would, the entirety of the place was decked out for Christmas, right up to the Christmas tree that nearly touched the ballroom ceiling.

Levi told Mikasa to go on ahead. 

“You'll have to forgive me for what comes next,” he warned Hange, locking arms with her. “I'm not thrilled about it either.”

Without giving Hange a chance to inquire, they stepped further into the ballroom. Sure enough the music, the noises, the conversations of the hundreds or so attendees already inside were falling silent. The people in Levi's path were stepping back and were practically gawking at him. 

That's when Hange realized all the eyes in the room were on them...Levi especially. Then came the murmurs.

“Is it really him?”

“It's the Captain.”

“I never thought he would show his face around here.”

“Who's the woman?”

Levi was scowling, showing his absolute displeasure at the attention that he and Hange were unintentionally receiving. One plump older woman in particular seemed very thrilled.

He leaned over to Hange again. “That woman over there...that's Erwin's mother, Mrs. Smith. Whatever you do, do not find yourself alone with that woman...not unless you want the entire county talking about you by morning.”

The Colonel himself, dressed in his military apparel, moved forward, and the music and noises slowly started back up again. “Levi, I don't believe it! And you must be the lovely Miss Hange I've heard so much about.”

Levi rolled his eyes while Erwin gave Hange a kiss on the hand. Her face was turning red. “Oh.” She was speechless. This was more attention than she had ever been given in a lifetime.

“Levi better be careful. I might not be the only gentleman here who might take an interest.” Erwin winked, which flattered Hange. But Levi was unamused. He wanted nothing more than for this night to end.

It didn't get any better when the waltz began to play and the ballroom floor began to swarm with dancers. 

Levi decided he needed to act fast and reached a hand out to Hange.

“Oh, are you sure this is a good idea?” she asked him. “I've never danced before.”

“Just don't step on my feet,” he told her. “I'll lead.”

But leading was difficult when Levi was clearly shorter than her. Hange had to mutter apologies every other second when she realized she was tripping or stepping on Levi's foot. “Will you relax?” he asked her.

It took some time, and a few minor adjustments, but soon the dance between them was less bumpy and more refined...close enough at any rate.

During the dance, Hange could see Mikasa across the room dancing with a young brunette man. 

“Is that him?” she asked Levi. “Is that Eren Yeagar?”

“Unfortunately yes,” said Levi, not willing to make eye contact with the couple.

“He looks like a fine gentleman. And look how happy Mikasa is.”

“That's what worries me,” he told her.

Hange chuckled. “You know what I think?”

Levi tried to focus on the dancing. “Clearly, I don't.”

“You worry too much what people will think of you.”

“I have my reasons.”

“Reasons that make you happy?”

For the first time in a while, Levi failed to find a proper response.

“I know you're scared for her future, because of your past, I get it. But I think you should have more faith in Mikasa. I've gotten this far in life with a lot less than she has.”

“How can I be certain?”

“Be certain of what?” Hange asked him.

The waltz was slowing but Levi was already breaking away from the dance. “...that she won't have the same fate as my mother?”

There was no answer. The music ended and the room was in loud applause. Suddenly Levi felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see a bald mustachioed man also in uniform carrying a large wine bottle with him. 

“Major Pixis.”

“Captain Levi! I got a fine Amontillado, 1782...and the Colonel insists I don't consume the whole thing myself if I want to live to 70. Have a glass with us in the study!”

Behind the Major, were the Colonel along with Mike. Levi knew he had no choice at this point but to break away from Hange and spend the next hour inhaling the second-hand cigar smoke, consume alcohol too strong even for him, and listen to the same tired drek of conversation that men of his status were quite used to.

As for Hange, Levi ensured that she was in the company of some decent women, wives of his fellow officers. Mike's wife, Nanaba, took a liking to her straight away and introduced her to the other women closest within their circle.

Hange was no longer as nervous as she was when she first got there.

“Yoo-hoo.” Mrs. Smith had approached the women. Hange remembered Levi's warning. At least she wasn't alone. “Miss Hange, you've worked a miracle on that man. My son and I were taken wagers on whether the Captain would be showing up at all. It appears I've lost this round.” 

She gave a high pitch laugh and the other women laughed. “Tell me, Miss Hange. Have you taken a fancy to the captain?”

“Fancy?!” Hange was nervous.

“Oh, don't put her on the spot like that,” said Nanaba.

“I'm afraid it's too late,” said Mrs. Smith. “Her cheeks are clearly blushing.”

The women (except for Hange) giggled again. “Well this will work out perfectly,” the plump woman said. “I say it's about time he took on another wife.”

Hange thought she misheard. “Did you say another wife?”

“Why yes. I would have thought you were aware.”

The look on her face suggested to everyone that she didn't.

“Really, now?” Mrs. Smith was curious. “You've been living there for how long?”

Nanaba stepped in gently taking Hange by the arm. “Maybe we should go get a drink.” The two women headed away from the group to a nearby punch bowl. They looked back to see Mrs. Smith and the other women clucking away, likely over what had just happened. “I'm so sorry about her,” Nanaba said. “I'm afraid this is bound to get around town by morning.”

Hange was still shaken. “I never knew he was married before.”

“I don't blame you. From what my husband's told me, it's not something he wants to speak nor be reminded of.”

“Was it really that bad?” Hange asked curiously.

“Oh not at all. Petra Ral was a kind lovely girl. And I'm certain there was some love there.”

 _'Love,'_ Hange thought to herself. It made her wonder what all that talk was about the Ackerman family having to marry for anything but that.

“Her death hit him quite hard, but then I think losing the child hurt him worse.”

 _'A child?!'_ Hange was an idiot, a fool to think that she knew the real Levi Ackerman. She was starting to feel sick to her stomach.

“Excuse me,” she told Nanaba. “I think I'll be retiring early for the night.”

The women said their goodbyes, promising to keep in touch. Hange walked through the crowds toward the study where all the military men were gathering. But both the crowds and the smoke were so thick, it was no longer worth dealing with.

Somewhere in the masses, she did find Mikasa. “I'm heading back,” she told her.

“So early?” Mikasa asked her.

“I'm not feeling well. Do you think our coach would mind...”

The girl could see that something was clearly upsetting Hange and that it wasn't physical. “Oh not at all. Just tell him to take you back to the house. It'll be fine. I'll let cousin know that you left early.”

Hange did just that. The ride back to the house seemed longer and much more painful despite how calm the weather was.

When she got to the main hall, she had no time to take the evening in. Miss Rico had come across her and nearly jumped at the sight of her.

“Miss Hange, you're home early! Where's Master Levi?”

“Still at the party,” she told her.

“Is that so? Do I dare ask why you've returned early?”

“No, I think I'll just go to bed.” Hange sadly mad her way up the stairs to her bedroom. But she couldn't exactly sleep. All she could do was sit on the bed and try to puzzle herself over why the whole house, it seemed, would keep this from her about Levi.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. She tensed, preparing for the worse. “Come in.”

The door opened and a lone figure with a small candle stepped in.

“Mikasa? I thought you'd still be at the ball.”

“I got tired too,” she told her. “Plus Eren felt that we should part for the night so cousin didn't cause any trouble with him.”

“Is he home too?”

“Still there, I think. Not by his choice.” She looked over at Hange who had not changed since she returned. “I spoke with Miss Nanaba. You heard about Miss Petra?”

“Yes.” Hange was suddenly feeling the urge to cry and she didn't know why. She had no right to be upset...absolutely none.

Mikasa took a seat by Hange on the bed. “I was still in school at the time. But from what I recall, they were arranged to be married about four years ago.”

“It was arranged?”

“Mostly Kenny's doing,” Mikasa explained. “He hoped to find a rich family that cousin could marry into and help solve our money woes. At least that's what I heard from the maids. Cousin fought the idea off for as long as he could.”

“So...there was no love in the marriage?”

“Miss Petra loved him. There was no denying how happy she was about the match. As for cousin, I don't believe he was completely loveless. He devoted himself to her out of a sense of duty and he came to genuinely care about her."

Hange was starting to understand the situation a bit more. “What about...the child?”

Mikasa smiled. “They were quite happy about it. Shortly after she became pregnant, cousin was called away during the Titan Wars. Months later someone came to inform him that Miss Petra had died and he went straight home. She died giving birth to his son. He felt awful that he wasn't there for it.”

“What happened to his son?” Hange was afraid to ask. She feared she already knew the answer.

“He...he started becoming ill,” Mikasa explained. “We called for a very good doctor, one of the best in the county, they said. But even he couldn't… That, I think, was what broke him...having a child who only lived for a few weeks. I can't imagine. He never got to name him either.”

“Oh my god...” Hange couldn't help but be horrified. Levi had to endure so much and his status was only an added weight to his already nightmarish life.

“There was nothing I could do…,” said Mikasa. “...that anyone could do to cheer him up. He closed himself off for the longest time, ordered every reminder of their existence to be purged from this place, but it still haunts him. I can see it in his eyes. He isn't very trustworthy of doctors.”

“I can see that.” At least Hange understood now why Levi was so hard on her when she first arrived.

“I'm sorry you had to hear about it this way. I guess we were all afraid that it would get back to him. But I think it's good that you know now. Are you upset?”

“I'm...” Hange wasn't sure. “Should I be?”

“Well no one would blame you if you left. But I hope you stay. Cousin has alluded to me that Miss Kuchel has gotten better because of you. Plus you saved everyone's jobs. That's got to count for something.”

She got up and headed to the door. “Also, I think he would want you to stay...even if he's not willing to admit it, himself. Goodnight, Miss Hange.”

…

It was now past midnight. That meant it was Christmas and also Levi's birthday. His worst fear was that Hange would want to do something for the latter. Not that he would have mind it if she was involved. But his head was hurting from too much Amontillado, and he was unlikely to recover by morning.

Back at the ball, Mikasa informed him that she had left early but didn't give any other details. That was all Levi knew. And there were already rumors being spread by Erwin's mother about the two of them. Damn her. 

He had stumbled back into the house from the coach and managed to get his way upstairs without any help from the staff. He realized that he had gone down the wrong end of the hall and found himself at a door clearly not his bedroom. He opened it, revealing a dark flight of stairs leading up to the attic.

Levi wanted to close the door but he felt a strange beckoning. So he grabbed a candle and lit it. He knew what was waiting for him up there but still made his way up. 

The attic wasn't as cluttered as it used to be since Kenny had already cleared it of anything that had the slightest cash value. All that was left was some old furniture.

Only one piece of it was covered. Levi reluctantly tugged at the sheet covering it. Christmas wasn't normally the hardest day of the year for him but this particular Christmas was. He doesn't know who to blame...Erwin? Hange? 

Why did he agree to go to that stupid ball?

_”I'm just saying don't let them hold you back. I don't think 'she' would have wanted that for you.”_

In all likelihood it was true. Petra would have be disappointed to see what became of him. He failed to care for the one thing she had left behind...the only thing that he had left to live for when his entire world was falling apart.

And now all that was left was the baby crib beneath the sheet in his hands. Only four years old and the paint on it still looked fresh and new. He thought he had left his wedding ring in the crib, but it was no longer there. Kenny must have sold it. What else was new?

Levi formed a fist in his hand, ready and willing to be rid of the thing infront of him. At the last second however, it flew instead, to a mirror leaning against the wall. Blood was now inevitable.

He wanted the crib gone, just like everything else. But this was the one thing his closed-off heart never had the courage to be rid of. 

Because he realized as much as his hurt to think about his son...he also did not want to forget about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we get to the point where updates on both stories are expected to get much slower than usual. Long story short, I had a lot of free time this month and writing kept me sane. Will do my best. Thank you lovely readers.


	6. Foregone Conclusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time speeds up a little in this chapter and there's a character death. That's it maybe? Read and see.

Christmas morning had been eerily quiet, not at all what Hange had hoped for. Many of the staff had gone to church for Christmas mass. Hange wasn't exactly a religious person so missing that wasn't a big deal to her. 

And besides, her thoughts were still consumed by what she had learned from Mikasa.

Kuchel was too unwell for anything other than rest, allowing Hange to roam the empty household. She slowly paced about outside of Levi's bedroom door until she mustered the courage to open it. He wouldn't kill her for this friendly intrusion, would he?

It didn't matter, as to her surprise, Levi wasn't there.

She then traveled to the other end of the hallway only stopping upon seeing a door ajar. Pulling the door open more, Hange could see a flight of rickety stairs. She thought she would never see the attic to this mansion in her time here. Curiosity compelled her upward.

The morning sun illuminated through the old windows on a large dusty space with a handful of old furniture.

“Levi!”

Hange was stunned to see Levi lying on the floor by a baby's crib. He was in a wild state, still in his attire from last night minus the military jacket.

What frightened her more was the broken glass, the busted mirror, and Levi's hand wrapped in his cravat, now seeping with blood.

He didn't fight her as she helped him out of the attic. He was still half asleep in a sense. The hangover was less than he had expected it to be, at least. 

“You smell worse than me right now,” she told him.

Levi didn't want to admit it, but she was right. She let him be so that he could clean himself in his private washroom. When he was done, Levi tried to dress himself but without Moblit around, it was sloppy, so Hange helped him instead.

To her surprise, he was no longer angry about her being in his bedroom, no matter how inappropriate it was for her to be there.

He became more awake and aware the second alcohol came in contact with the wound on his hand. Hange was the only one around to hear him yell from the pain.

“What's the matter?” she asked him, smirking. “I thought you enjoyed being clean.”

Levi grumbled while she bandaged him. 

“Last night,” he said. “Why did you leave?”

Hange was nervous. “I...I guess it wasn't my kind of thing...not that I didn't enjoy it!”

“To be honest,” Levi told her. “I didn't enjoy much either.”

“I think they were more surprised to see you than they were me,” Hange said.

“It's what I get for keeping away for so long.”

The bandage was complete, but Hange's hand was still lingering. “I...I heard about Miss Petra.”

Levi said nothing. After the events of last night, it didn't surprise him that she now knew. It came as a relief to him, actually.

“She sounded like a sweet woman. I'm sorry.”

Levi wanted to say he was sorry to Hange, too...for a lot of things. “It is what it is.”

“And your son?”

Hange worried that she might have gone too far. But Levi's emotions, or lack thereof, didn't change. “Maybe it's for the best,” he said to himself more than her. “...that he never lived to be an Ackerman.”

She did not believe him but she didn't want to cause him any more pain pondering on the subject. The room had been so silent, they could hear the distant bells of the nearby church signaling the end of mass. Levi huffed. “They're coming back. Wouldn't look good for either of us to be in my bedroom alone like this.”

Hange chuckled. On her way out of the bedroom, she turned to Levi and said, “I haven't forgotten that today's your birthday. And I'm going to have them bake a cake downstairs for you whether you like it or not.”

…

January was surprisingly mild, allowing Hange to go into town and get Levi a belated gift.

“Open it,” she told him.

Levi opened the small box and pulled out a new white cravat. “Hmm…,” he said. “Couldn't stand to see me without it, could you?”

“I just felt awful that your old one got blood on it. I know how you like to keep it clean.”

“Yes. It's a shame I couldn't save it.” Levi fumbled with fixing the new cravat on his collar.

“May I?” Hange asked.

To her surprise, he let her. It was far from perfect but Levi was content.

“Hange, if it's not too cold for you...” Levi looked down. “Will you walk with me?”

Hange thought nothing of it, but the two of them spending more time strolling the gardens, without Miss Kuchel caught the eye of Mr. Arlert as he was doing some landscaping work outside.

It was a courtship if he ever saw one.

“You never told me,” said Levi on their stroll.

“Told you what?” Hange asked.

“You told me you knew once, what it was like to sacrifice love for the greater good.”

“I thought you'd forgotten about that.” Hange felt uncertain. “Well if you must know, his name was Keith Shadis. We never were engaged or anything. My family was just hopeful it would lead to that. I had hoped so too. Even though he was a bit old for me, he was a good friend. Then he told me that he had plans to propose to another woman and that was the end of it. I wasn't going to get in the way of his happiness.”

“Ever find out what happened to him?” Levi asked.

“Not really, though I heard the other woman got married to a doctor.”

“Your family wasn't upset?”

Hange smiled. “They were disappointed, but they respected my choices even if it meant I wasn't going to get much out of it.”

Levi secretly envied her, for her ability to give up so much so willingly and not be worried about silly consequences that could come with it.

However, he knew that the future of Ploughfields would affect her too...whether or not he would be able to pay her enough so that she could fulfill her own future prospects.

They made their way back to the house, arm-in-arm, surprised to find a familiar face waiting for them in the main hall.

Hange looked to Levi. Was he going raise hell?

But he seemed unusually calm with only a minor scowl.

Eren Yeager, stood up from his chair to greet them both. He was almost unrecognizable in the brown private uniform he wore. “Captain, I was hoping to have a word in private.”

Hange let go of Levi. “I should go see to your mother now,” she told him.

Levi wished she hadn't given reason to leave. He would now have to face Eren alone. They took their conversation to the study where he calmed his inner anger with some tea.

“Did Mikasa put you up to this to try and impress me?” Levi asked him.

“No, Captain,” said Eren. “I've been considering the prospect of military life for quite some time. In fact, we had quite the row about it. She was insistent I not do this.”

“You're aware that war could break out with Marley at any time,” said Levi. “Though you do seem like the reckless type. That wouldn't surprise me.”

“I'm aware and ready to take out our enemies if it comes to that.”

“I see.” 

Levi still was not impressed. 

“I know my chances of survival are minimal,” Eren told him. “If by chance I make it out, I hope to be worthy of Mikasa by then.”

“So that's what this is about, huh?” Levi smirked.

“My father left me a livable sum when he passed. But I believe this will allow me to provide for her better.”

“And the fact that she's to inherit this house doesn't appeal to you at all?”

Eren shook his head. “I've been told it's in limbo. It's why I hope to have a little more before I pro-...”

“I've heard enough,” Levi said. “I think it's foolish what you're doing. You want to risk your life for a bit of cash? You're going to regret it. But go ahead. I'm not going to stop you.”

“If war does happen, I will do everything to survive it, Captain!”

Levi was a bit taken aback. Eren was starting to remind him of Mikasa when it came to his defiance. But unlike her, Eren was still trying to remain formal with it. “Tch. Do you now?” Levi asked him. “We'll just have to see then, won't we? Shall I have someone see you out?” 

Eren got the hint. “No, thank you,” he said a bit more calm. As he got up to leave he had one more thing to say to Levi. “I'm sorry.”

“For what?” Levi asked. Was the boy already regretting his attitude already.

“That my father couldn't save him. That's what this has all been about, isn't it?”

The Captain wanted to rage at Eren but that would have proven Eren right, wouldn't it? He could still remember when he nearly killed Grisha Yeager shortly after his son's death. It was the worst moment of his life. He didn't want to go back to that. He wanted to let go of all of it. 

Deep down, however, Levi had a bit of guilt. There was a bit of selfishness in his refusal to let Mikasa marry Eren, knowing that his family name would always be tied to his own...and be a reminder of that tragedy. Hange would be disgusted with him if she knew that was the case.

Eren finally made his exit, knowing he wasn't going to get a proper response.

…

The future of Ploughfields was starting to get more dim. Levi had been going through the numbers over and over, meeting with a few loaners and financiers. The estate would likely be lost in a year or two. Most of the staff would have to be dismissed long before that point.

It was a frustration he shared with Hange on one of their strolls. Valentine's Day was soon near. There was going to be some awkward implications from the increasing amount of time they had been spending together for sure.

“You don't seem worried about what will happen to you,” Hange told him.

“I'm not. If my mother and I have to downgrade then...it's not like I don't know what that's like.”

“Is it still about Mikasa?”

“Yes.” Levi said. “You know, as foolish as it sounds, I'm reconsidering allowing her to marry Eren, if that is what she desires.”

Hange smiled. “Oh that's wonderful! They're going to be really happy together if you let them.”

“And what about you?” Levi asked her. “If I am unable to pay you for your service with us, will that put you out on the street?”

“You shouldn't worry about me, Levi,” Hange said. “I can always find some other work. I hear the army is looking for doctors, and they're even accepting women with medical experience.”

“Well that should pay a lot more than I could.” Levi believed it to be true.

They heard yelling coming from down the road. It was Moblit.

“Miss Hange! Master Levi!”

He was near exhaustion when he finally caught up with them. “Come quick. It's Miss Kuchel!”

They hurried back to the house. Hange knew that Miss Kuchel had been in and out of bad health for a while. For all of her medical experience, however, she had not been able to determine the cause and recently she also noticed how little she was eating.

Levi waited outside his mother's room allow Hange to do what she could. Three hours passed and aside from having the occasional maid come in and out of the room with something, there seemed to be no response from Hange herself.

He was about ready to go in himself when she came out into the hall.

“Levi...” She put her hands over her mouth.

“What is it? You can tell me,” Levi tried to assure her. 

“It's not good.”

Those three words drove terrible thoughts and memories swirling in Levi's head.

“I think...” Hange said trying to hold back tears. “I think now would be a good time for you to have your peace with her.”

He knew what it meant. The time had to come for her eventually, but no one...not even him thought it would come this quickly. He had times when he had foolishly hoped that she would recover. But it was mere fantasy and he always believed that after everything he could be prepared for the inevitable. 

It was now his turn to go into his mother's room, and for Hange to give them their privacy. 

It hadn't even been 30 minutes. Levi came out, with his head down, closing the door to his mother's room.

He barely muttered the words. “She's gone.”

“I'm sorry,” Hange sobbed.

“What? No, Hange...” Levi held her hands in his. “You're not...”

“I should have...”

She sensed a change and wiped the tears in her eyes to see that Levi was now hugging her. The first thing she thought of was that this wasn't a good idea to be like this where the staff could see.

“The time was coming,” said Levi. “I'm the one who should have known. But it's over now. I got to say good bye to her and that's all I needed.”

They wanted nothing more than for their embrace to never end.

…

Of course, the funeral would have to be on Valentine's Day. Typical of Ackerman family luck.

The only other oddity was the fact that Kenny was there, keeping a distance from the rest of the attendees, and as well-dressed as he could be for himself.

Hange was just as quiet and solemn as Levi was throughout whole service. The guilt that she was not able to save Kuchel was still looming over her.

For Levi, it was the realization that Hange would soon be leaving him.

They watched the grave diggers commence with the burial.

Levi cursed under his breath, seeing the pastor heading in his direction. Much like Hange, he was not a religious man either. But Pastor Nick and him already had a bit of history for Levi to not ignore.

“Captain Levi,” the man said.

“Pastor Nick.”

“Why must we always meet under tragic circumstances?”

Hange who had been listening in, realized that Levi and Pastor Nick had likely not communicated with one another since Petra and their son died. 

“Thought you knew all about the Ackerman curse by now,” Levi said.

“No man is cursed,” the pastor said. “The Lord never wishes for bad will, not even among sinners.”

It was bunch of mumbo-jumbo as far as Levi was concerned. 

Pastor Nick became curious about Hange. “I don't believe we've met.”

“I'm...”

Hange was cut-off by Levi. “Dr. Hange Zoe.”

Hange and Pastor Nick were both surprised.

“Doctor, oh my,” the pastor smiled. “Who would have guessed they let women be doctors now. Soon enough they'll be pastors too, I suppose.”

Hange didn't take offense at all. She was still in shock. 

Levi became the first person ever to actually refer to her as Doctor.

The Captain slowly walked past them forcing Hange to make attempts at friendly conversation with Pastor Nick. He made his way over to Kenny who hadn't moved from his spot, leaning against a tall tree.

“So where you've been staying?” Levi asked.

“Didn't think you cared, boy. But if you're that curious, you remember me talkin' about my old pal Uri?”

Levi vaguely remembered Kenny bragging about knowing some old coot that he claimed was part of the royal family. But he never believed him. Kenny was always known for over-exaggeration.

“Left me a nice place in Stohess in his will. Worth a lot more than the family shack, that's for sure.”

“I'm sure he did,” Levi said, not believing a single word of his bull.

The men could see Hange from a distance becoming a bit more comfortable in Pastor Nick's presence.

“Guess she's leaving now, huh?” Kenny asked. “Eh, probably for the best. Don't need anyone else dyin' around us.” 

Even if what Kenny said was true, Levi was still hesitant to let Hange go.

…

The next day, Hange struggled, little by little, to empty her room of her possessions. She would save Sawney and Bean for last...let them enjoy their last day in the manor.

“We'll all miss you,” Mikasa told her.

“And I'll miss all of you,” said Hange. “I doubt visiting will be possible since this place might not be around.”

“Yes, I think the staff is aware of that by now. Some are already looking for employment elsewhere. Others are having more difficulty. They've been here far too long and this place is all they've known.”

Hange wondered if Mikasa knew of Levi's reconsideration of Eren. She showed no sign of it.

“This place seems to have change greatly since you've been here. It may not seem like it, but I know it has.”

Hange couldn't look at Mikasa anymore. “Excuse me.” She stepped out of the room and went down the hall. She looked over the stairwell and found Levi wandering about the main hall. Occasionally he would inspect the staff's cleanliness throughout the house, but this did not seem like the case at all.

It was as if he was waiting for her departure.

“Where are your things?” he asked curiously, seeing her at the stairs. “Are you not...”

“I wanted to say something first,” she said. “I don't wish to be paid.”

“What?”

“I don't wish to be paid for caring for your mother.”

Levi was confused. “What do you mean you don't wished to be paid? That's what you came to be here for, isn't it?”

“Levi, your mother died because of me.”

“Not this again...”

“It's true!” cried Hange. “I pride myself too much in thinking I could care for her, that I could even make her better. But clearly I was wrong! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I took payment for that.”

“You're talking madness,” Levi growled. “Is this not your profession?”

“I don't think I want it to be anymore.”

This shocked Levi. Hange was foolishly giving up her dreams just because of this place. “Then what will you do?”

“I told you before not to worry about me! This house needs the money more than I do. I don't want you to give up on this place. Not yet. Think of the staff. Think of Mikasa.”

Hange made her way back up the stairs. Levi rushed after her and grabbed her by the arm.

“You can't be serious about this!” he yelled.

“I am. Now if you'll excuse me, my coach should be arriving soon.”

But Levi would not let her move another step. “I...I have another suggestion.”

“A suggestion?” Hange wondered looking back at him. What idea could Levi have that could remotely solve any of their woes?

He looked straight into her eyes, the same piercing look he had given her when they first locked eyes the night she arrived here. 

“You remain here.”

Hange blinked. “Remain here? As a servant?” She was perplexed as to how that would even work. Levi would still have to pay her.

“Not as a servant...” Levi said loudly and bluntly. “I mean remain here as my wife!”

A loud crash at the bottom of the stairs disrupted any thought of what Levi had just said. They both looked to see Sasha scrambling to pick up the silver tea tray she had just dropped on the floor, and doing a sloppy job of wiping the mess that was left behind.

Sasha was carrying the mess in her arms hurrying back to the basement unable to form words.

“Sasha, what's wrong?” Miss Rico helped to remove the things from her arms. “Did you cause that crash upstairs?”

“Y-y-yes,” the kitchen maid said nervously.

“Master Levi yelled at you?”

“N-n-no. It's...it's...”

The other staff in the kitchen were now curious as to Sasha's nervous state and began to gather around her.

Connie was getting impatient than most. “Come on, Sasha, out with it! What the hell's happening?”

“Master Levi just proposed to Miss Hange!!!”

The staff seemed to descend upon her all at once with words and questions.

“Well?! What did she say?!” Miss Rico was now the most anxious of all of them.

Sasha's face dropped. “Oh my god! I didn't even stay to find out!”

Everyone in the basement groaned.

It was silent now, with only the ticking of the clock in the main hall. Hange didn't believe what Levi had just said...or suggested rather.

“Are you serious?”

“When have I not?” Levi asked her, getting agitated.

But then Hange began to question it. “If this is because you pity me, Levi, it won't work. I won't take your money and my mind's been made up.”

“What do you mean pity?”

“I'm clearly too old to be your wife...at least by society's standards. And being married would do nothing for this house since I have no money to my name. Isn't that what marriage is about in the Ackerman family?”

“Dammit Hange! Do you think I care about that anymore?! I'm trying to...”

The deep bell rang and Levi wanted to curse to the heavens. With none of the staff around, Levi turned angrily back down the stairs to answer the front door.

Whoever was there was going to pay for this poorly-timed disruption.

Levi opened the door to a very nervous looking messenger boy.

“Captain Levi?” The boy reached an envelope out with a shaky arm. “Urgent message from Colonel Erwin, sir!”

Levi snatched the envelope and the messenger boy quickly ran off. He slammed the door and began opening the letter grumbling the whole time.

But then his eyes widened and his face grew rather pale.

Hange could see it. Something was terribly wrong.

“Levi?”

He crumpled the letter in his hands and walked past Hange back up the stairs. “You might as well forget what I just said. You're free to leave now, with or without payment. I won't delay you anymore.”

“I don't understand. What's happened?”

Levi didn't want to look at her, knowing that this truly was goodbye. “I'm to report to the army base first thing tomorrow. Marley just declared war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. War is a cockblocker.  
> 2\. Levi needs to work on his proposing skills.
> 
> XD


	7. War, Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy moly! The feedback on my last chapter blew the eff up! I was not expecting that kind of response at all and I kept thinking that I should've split that last chap up into two and added some more meat. So that's what I'm doing with this part of the story. Lemme know what you think and again thank you for the reviews on the last chap!

“Cannon!”

The cry came and all the Eldian soldiers took cover.

The boom was so loud, Levi's ears were ringing. When it finally subsided, he looked over to see the damage not too far away from him. Their artillery had taken a hit. A few of his men were down.

They were running about, jumping in and out of ditches, while more cannons and gunfire were exchanged.

“GET DOWN!” Levi commanded.

Marley was firing back with full force again. Another gunshot narrowly missed the top of the captain's head. But Levi was quick to take cover in the ditch he was in.

He crouched there waiting for another opportunity to emerge so to figure out what their next move should be. But his attention turned to a young man with blond hair who was sitting nearby hugging his knees and covering his ears. He was being shaken with every shot ringing from above and seemed unwilling to take any sort of action.

“Get up, Arlert!”

Levi was getting impatient. He went over and grabbed the young man by the collar. “This is what you left your education for, isn't it?! Maybe you're not as smart as your grandpa brags you to be. Only an idiot would give up school to risk being killed!”

“Leave him alone, Captain!” Levi looked over to see Eren Yeager.

“You have the nerve to defy me now of all times, Yeager?” The captain sneered.

Eren stood firm. “Armin's in this war for the same reason a lot of us are!”

Levi knew that. A lot of people had felt the call to arms in the course of the six weeks since the tide of the war changed...since the day that Shiganshima fell.

And now, what remained of the town where Eren and Armin grew up, was being used by Marley as their advantage point while Eldian forces lie outside the town's borders fighting in ditches and trenches with what little cover they could assemble. They have been barely able to keep Marley from advancing further.

Armin could only mutter a weak and pathetic “s-s-sorry.”

Levi finally let go of him. “Tch. Useless.”

“He's not useless, Captain,” Eren said. “His strategies have been helping us!”

“Then maybe he can find a strategy for doing something other than sitting around while we're being shot at. Just get him out of here!” The captain ordered Eren.

Eren went over and coaxed Armin up. He glanced at Levi before getting Armin away from the battle to a safer area. 

Levi was irritated. It was bad enough that Yeager was in his company...but the grandson of his own gardener? 

How many of these brats was he going to feel personally responsible for?

When the sun set that day, so did the gunfire. But it wasn't without cost. In Levi's battalion alone, 20 men were lost within hours. 

Instead of being able to reflect on that however, Levi was summoned to meet with his fellow superior officers in a camp further away from the battlefield. 

The only good news that Colonel Erwin could provide for him was that Marley had sustained heavy losses and would be unable to fight again for at least a week. Levi was skeptical of this, while the others were already taking advantage of the downtime, holding parties in the tents to provide themselves as much distraction from the ongoing war as possible.

The Captain was forced to attend one of these, which consisted of the officers getting drunk and signing around a piano that they somehow managed to sneak in. Levi couldn't believe their idiocy. They should be keeping a low profile, but he was certain the party could be heard on the other side of Eldia.

“Sing with us, Captain!” The Colonel insisted in his tipsy state.

Levi could only give him the cold shoulder.

Major Pixis, of course, could not be seen without a bottle in hand, and now he was stumbling his way towards Levi. “Captain, there's a (hic) striking spe-specimen of a lady outside the tent who asked specifically to see you,” he teased. 

“Sure there is,” said Levi. He had no interest in meeting with some harlot, like the one Erwin tried to arrange for him one night.

“Come to think of it, she looked awfully familiar.” Pixis took a swig of his bottle. “Wasn't she the one on your arm at Erwin's Christmas shindig?”

It took a second for Levi to think…

...it couldn't be…

Before he knew it, he got up and went straight outside, in complete disbelief at who was standing there before him.

“Hange...”

She looked almost as she was when she departed from Ploughfields, except over her plain black dress was a nurse's apron, and on her arm was the familiar military medical band.

“Hello, Captain.” She greeted him with such professionalism. As she curtseyed, she couldn't help but smile at the sight of the cravat he wore...the cravat she had given him. “I hope this isn't a bad time. I thought since we're not too far away from each other...”

Levi was in shock. He didn't know what to say. “Do you...do you realize how dangerous it is to be here right now?”

Hange smirked. “I should have expected as much of a greeting from you. Besides, I'm in a much better state than the two of your men I've had to perform amputations on.”

“I thought you had given up this profession,” he said.

“At one time I did. But like many of us, I couldn't ignore the call after Shiganshima.”

Levi sighed. As much as he admired Hange's conviction, he wished it wasn't as strong as it was while they were in the middle of a deadly war.

The cold spring chill was starting to get at both of them.

“Should I go?” Hange asked.

“No,” Levi said. “Let us talk...in my tent. It'll be warmer in there.”

Levi and Hange walked by several tents, one of which where Mike was sitting outside. He was about to chuckle at the sight of Levi and Hange going into the Captain's tent together. But Levi gave him the cold glare.

Levi's tent was as well kept as Ploughfields was. In such a confined space, he had all the luxuries of home that could be fit, and on one table he kept a large collection of teas. He poured a cup for himself and Hange.

She knew what he wanted to speak to her about. 

“We both left so suddenly,” said Levi. 

“We did.”

Hange barely remembered. It wasn't long after Levi got the message about war breaking out did Hange eventually leave Ploughfields. Levi, as it turned out, left soon after.

“I never thanked you,” she said.

“For what?”

Hange smiled. “Your reference letter. Major Dok was so impressed with how highly you spoke of me, he put me in charge of the entire medical staff. I couldn't believe it!”

“He's not giving you any trouble over there, is he?”

“None at all. But you didn't have to exaggerate my accomplishments.”

“I wasn't.” Levi knew that she carried some guilt over what happened to his mother. “I tried to inquire about you after you left.”

“I had a feeling,” she said. “I took Nanaba's invitation. I was staying with her until I decided to enlist here.”

Levi was surprised. “Nanaba's? But Mike never said anything...”

“He had already left before I got there. I asked Nanaba to keep my stay a secret. I'm sorry.”

It hurt him a bit. He didn't want to seem like some crazy stalker when he was trying to search for Hange's whereabouts after she left Ploughfields. But given the way they had left things…

“About my pro-...about that day,” said Levi. “Those words came out of my mouth without any real thought.”

“Did it?” she asked him. “That moment has been on my mind much since then, and perhaps I mistook your intentions.”

“My intent was for you to not feel it necessary to walk out so quickly with nothing. I had thought you came to see me as more than an employer.”

“I did.” She looked down at the tea she barely took a sip out of. “I guess it doesn't matter now, does it? Have you heard from home...I mean...your home?”

“Mikasa's sick with worry,” said Levi. “I have to keep assuring her that we're both fine in every bit of correspondence.”

“Both?”

“Me and the Yeager brat.”

A lower ranking soldier stumbled into the tent just then and saluted. “Captain, scouts are reporting unusual enemy movement in the south.”

“Fine, thank you.”

After the soldier left, Levi got up.

“The south?” asked Hange. “Marley is already based there. So we should be fine, right?”

“Nevertheless, I should escort you back,” Levi said.

The medical camp where Hange was working in was north of the current army base, hidden by the hills. The only other accessible route was through the forest in the west that the army carved out themselves.

Levi took the forest route with Hange on his horse. Even though it was longer, it allowed them to have a little more silence together before they finally arrived at the edge of the medical camp.

“Do you think this war will end soon?” Hange asked him.

“If it doesn't, I doubt I could get you to reconsider leaving.”

Hange smiled. “Only if you promise not to get shot.”

It was on that note that they said their goodbyes. At least this time around, it was on far better terms.

After watching Levi leave on his horse, Hange heard some rustling from the nearby bushes.

“Hello?” she whispered.

To her surprise, one of her nurses, a blonde tired-looking young woman, stumbled out.

“Annie? What were you doing?”

The young Annie Leonhart seem unfazed. “I...I went to the army camp to see someone.”

“Oh.” Hange giggled. “Could it be that Armin Arlert I've been hearing about from the other nurses?”

Annie looked away showing no emotion. “Sure, whatever.”

It did not occur to Hange until she was finally back in her tent and was getting ready to sleep that a thought occurred to her. If Annie had gone to the same camp that she had just been at, how come they didn't run into each other?

…

The next few days were quiet in both camps. 

At the army base, Levi was keeping watch of the wide earth that separated them and the Marleyan forces, waiting for them to make a move again, but it seemed more like he was staring off into space and even Colonel Erwin was taking notice.

“You're more alert than ever, Levi,” he joked.

“There has to be at least on eye on them,” Levi said.

“You know, Mike said he saw you with Miss Hange the other night. What was so important that she needed to be in your personal tent for a conversation?”

Colonel Erwin was usually lax on his officers fraternizing with the women (as long as it didn't impact their abilities on the battlefield). Levi knew this was more about curiosity than anything else. “I may have done something stupid before this war started. I...I proposed marriage to her.”

Of course the Colonel seemed pleased. “Levi, I'm impressed. Never thought you were ever going to come around to it.”

“It was a foolish spur of emotion...”

“More than I've ever seen you displayed. I knew it was some time before she would have that impact on you.”

“She thought I was pitying her,” said Levi.

Erwin chuckled. “Well...I suppose you can't fault her for that. A pity this war disrupted such a great oppurtunity for you.”

“For me?”

“To move forward,” said the Colonel.

Levi was still feeling a sense of embarrassment from what he did that day, even if that was what a part of him wanted. Was it even possible to move forward even after all the bad luck and death that had consumed the Ackerman family? 

He was torn being protecting Hange from that life but also wanting to keep her in it.

“Marley!”

Levi looked through his spyglass. Sure enough, a small fraction of the enemy troops were on horses heading straight in their direction.

Colonel Erwin called out. “SOUND THE BELL!”

At the medical camp, Hange was going from tent to tent checking up on her patients when she heard the distant ringing of a bell...

...the warning bell from the army camp.

Marley was invading again.

Levi groaned. He should have expected Marley to come back with a surprise attack this quickly. 

“We should be able to take them,” said Erwin. “FORMATION!”

The troops were already lining the guns and cannons up and were able to fire back just in time. Marley's numbers were slowly dwindling before they were getting close. This was a good sign.

But to Levi, something was starting to seem off about this attack. He took a step away from the front lines to try and think this over.

“Uh...Captain?”

Levi was agitated with Armin's disruption. “State your business, Arlert.”

“Don't you think it's strange that Marley would only send a small fraction to try and take us head-on when they could have done that weeks ago?”

“You're not the only one,” Levi said.

“Well I just heard that more Marleyans troops are going west around the camp. They seem to be going fast too.”

West? Levi's mind was speeding. Could they be trying to surround the entire army? That would be impossible the way Colonel had strategically laid the camp out. They could have split to the east as well. Why go through the woods knowing it was unfamiliar territory that would slow them down.

Unless they knew...

The horrifying realization caused Levi to hurry to his horse and straight over to Erwin. “Colonel, this attack is a ruse!”

“What?!” Erwin yelled in the midst of the battle chaos.

“They're heading for the med-camp!”

“That's impossible, how would they know...”

But Levi was already calling on his men. “My company with me! We'll go through the hills!”

Armin was already grabbing his horse. “Captain, the hills are too steep for the horses!”

But Levi ignored him. He knew that Marley would not spare a single life once they got there. Every second counted.

In the moment, it didn't matter how Marley knew the location of the medical camp.

_'Hange'._

Levi ordered his troops to make haste.

_'Hang on. We're coming.'_

The medical camp had gotten warning from scouts that Marleyan troops were fast approaching. The nurses were struggling to move as many patients as they could to a safer area and Hange was doing her best to direct them. 

“Oh, there's still too many patients to move,” said Nifa. “It's going to be far too late.”

Hange turned to the timid nurse. “We may not have a choice. We may have to prioritize the soldiers with the highest chance of survival...” 

Just then Major Dok arrived on his horse infront of Hange. “Gather your nurses and retreat north.”

“What?!” said Hange. “You want us to abandon the patients?!”

“We're going to be vastly out-numbered. My men will hold them off as much as we can, but it won't be for very long. That is an order!”

Nifa was starting to quiver. “Come on!” Hange grabbed her by the arm and as they started running, they could hear the gunshots.

Along the way, she tried to spot the other nurses, but it was impossible in the chaos. Hange and Nifa remained on their own. But they did manage to get as far away from the camp as they could, making their way around a steep hill for extra cover.

“Miss Hange?”

Nifa could see Hange climbing up the hill and pulling out her spyglass. Hange needed to see the situation at the med-camp from where they were.

Dok's soldiers were indeed too small a number to take on the vast majority of Marley's army. Half of them had fallen and the soldiers were now making their way towards the wounded in their tents, delivering the final bullets.

It was too much even for her.

Nifa had climbed up to join Hange. “Look! Over there!”

Another group on horseback was coming down from the hills near them. Nifa seemed to recognize who was leading the charge straight away. “It's Captain Levi, we're saved!”

Sure enough, it was Levi and his men. Their swords and guns began clashing with those of of the Marleyan invaders.

Hange surveyed the camp through her spyglass again when something else caught her eye. 

Annie was by herself. She seemed concerned but not terrified at what was happening around her. In fact, she was looking around as she made her way to the very woods that Marley had just arrived from.

“Wait here, Nifa.”

Hange headed down the hill and much to Nifa's horror was making her way back to the med-camp. She managed to grab the reins of a loose horse trying to escape the panic. Once Hange was on, she sped past the camps in pursuit of Annie.

“STOP!”

Annie froze and turned to see Hange getting off the horse.

It was just the two them deep in the woods. They could hear the fighting still going on at the camp.

“So you didn't go to see Armin that night, did you? How else would Marley had known the location of our camp unless someone gave them directions?”

Annie smirked. “Took you that long to figure it out?”

“You never specified what part of Eldia you were from. I should have known,” said Hange.

Annie was about to take off, but Hange was not willing to let her go that easily. This was a matter for the Eldian troops to deal with and get whatever information they could out of her but the battle was still going on. 

Annie fought to break free of Hange's grasp. Soon they wrestling on theground and had unknowingly rolled off the road 

The women broke free of each other but now they were rolling and falling…down and down…

Hange felt a strong and wet impact. Then became immersed in water.

She kicked and waved her arms until she felt a branch of sorts and grasped it to pull herself out.

Her glasses were gone, but she knew she had just escaped some river.

Annie was nowhere to be seen. Had she drowned or had she escaped?

All Hange could see before her was a massive muddy wall. The road she and Annie had been fighting on was far up and far out of reach.

Despite digging her fingers into the mud, there was no possible way for her to climb back up and her bad vision only made the situation worse.

It brought her no comfort that the battle sounds were no more and it seemed to be getting darker all around her.

Night was coming and she was stuck and all alone.


	8. War, Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My head's been messed up from how long I've been working on this chapter. If there's any writing mistake I'll come back and fix them later.

The cannon shots and gunfire were winding down. Most of the Marleyan soldiers had either been killed or were scattering in retreat. 

But Levi was still storming through the bloodied camp on his horse in a panic.

“ **Hange!!!** ”

His sword sliced through every tent either to find it empty or with a dead soldier inside.

The rest of Levi's men were already gathering the dead for a large funeral pyre. Leaving them as is was sure to spread disease unless quick action was taken.

He hurried back when he saw the pyre being ignited.

“The dead nurses! Where are they?!”

The surviving men were both confused by Levi's question, not to mention a bit scared of their Captain's desperate crazed-like state. One of them managed to point a finger, arm shaking, at one row of dead...a handful of women in their medical attire.

Levi got off his horse to look upon the bodies closely, and then dropped to his knees.

No Hange among them.

Eren Yeager approached him. “Captain, we have to get back to Colonel Erwin. With Marley's forces scattered...”

But Levi wasn't listening. No way in hell was he going to do anything else until Hange was found...until he knew she was safe.

But he didn't know where to start. He knew Hange better now. It was impossible to think that she would run off even with Marley invading.

Additional worse case scenarios entered his mind: she could have been captured, lost and wounded, or perhaps her corpse was just lying elsewhere.

“Gather the troops. We need to form a search party,” he told Eren.

“But Captain...”

“NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO DEFY MY ORDERS, YEAGER! Our lead medic is missing! So if you want everyone who is injured right now to die, you better do as I say!”

Eren backed away. Not even during battle was Levi this enraged.

A small band of troops were gathered to search the surrounding areas with no such luck. Levi questioned as many of the survivors in the medical camp as they could but they were all useless.

An hour later, Armin returned to Levi on horseback, accompanied by a small nervous-looking nurse.

“I found her beyond the hills,” said Armin.

“What's your name?” Levi asked the nurse, as calm as he could.

“N-Nifa.”

The nurse gave Levi his first lead on Hange's whereabouts. She had gone off to the woods in the east during battle.

Levi could only hope that she was making her way to the army base, but if that had been the case, someone would have reported to him already. He knew the woods stretched quite deep. It was quite possible to get lost.

He was already back on his horse and heading in that direction. Eren and Armin were both instantly worried for their Captain and decided to follow suit.

Along the road in the forest, they were surprised to find Colonel Erwin and some of his men. They had found and captured some of the Marleyans that tried to escape.

They were surprised to also find Annie among them, with her hands tied behind her back.

“What is this?” Levi asked Erwin.

“It appears she ratted us out,” said the Colonel. “She's from Marley.”

“Annie?” said Armin.

But Annie said nothing. Levi was trying to contain his anger. 

“Go back with them, Armin,” Levi ordered him.

He was taking off again before Erwin had time to protest. “What do you think you're doing, Levi?!”

The Colonel knew how critical it was to find Hange with so many injured soldiers in need of her medical skills. But he knew Levi's motivations were far more personal.

Now it was just Levi and Eren, searching the woods alone by themselves. Eren didn't have the courage to speak up as the sun was setting. He knew it would be impossible to find anyone once nightfall came, but his captain clearly didn't care.

Levi halted his horse when he looked down at the river along the road. He could see something glistening, reflected by last rays of sun, about halfway down. He jumped off and hurried down to the object that laid broken and mangled against a tree.

A pair of glasses. Hange's glasses.

The faces of every person Levi lost, of everyone he allowed himself to get close to, were flashing through his mind.

Furlan...Isabel...Petra...his son...his mother…

He never learned. How could he? Hange was never meant to be anyone special. What an idiot he was, allowing himself even the mere possibility of change with her.

They always die. Everyone he ever let come close to him...

Making his way back up the road, he could hear Eren calling out to him, but it was an echo compared to his own thoughts.

“Captain!!!”

One second Levi was standing. The next, he was pinned to the ground. Then came the rapid gunshots. Eren could be heard screaming in pain as he slowly rolled off of him.

The Captain came to his senses when he saw the blood dripping from Eren's leg. 

Bullets were flying over their heads and the only cover they had were their horses lying dead infront of them. Levi pulled out his gun and crawled over to the nearest tree before firing back.

Perhaps the darkness was on his side. He was able to spot them, only a handful thankfully. And soon everything went quiet.

He could hear Eren continuing his screams of pain. “Get up, brat!”

It was clear that the boy was struggling. Levi had no choice but to pull him up.

Eren was able to support himself better with an arm now around Levi's shoulder.

“Captain?”

The men both looked down to see a gushing red wound coming out of Levi's side.

…

Hange had gotten way too lucky. No broken bones. Only minor cuts and bruises. But her body was sore and tired. And her progress was being slowed by the muddied earth she was treading. With no way to climb up, her only hope was to walk alongside the river. The river was moving upward, which meant eventually it would have to meet up with the road.

Without her glasses and the sun setting, she had to rely on the sounds of the river and a walking stick she had improvised.

Soon however, Hange had lost all patience with her shoes constantly getting stuck in the mud, as well as her dress getting caught on thin branches. She stopped to tear off part of her dress and make the rest of the trek barefoot.

“Great,” she said, the moment she heard thunder.

But there was no sign of rain or lightening.

The thunder continued, louder and more frequent.

To her horror, Hange realized they were gunshots.

She instinctively leaned against the wall of the river until the horrible noises stopped.

They didn't want to keep moving in that direction, where all the commotion was coming from. But she would get hypothermia if she stayed stuck down here.

She thought about all the soldiers who were probably wounded right now and in a worse state than she was, and the nurses in need of her medical guidance.

That was the motivation she needed to keep going.

…

All that Eren and Levi could see before them was a dense fog. There was no guarantee that they were even headed in the direction of the army camp. They were limping out in an open meadow where the enemy could strike again at any moment. Occasionally they could hear distant gunfire, which only made them more worried for their current predicament.

Eren had been doing most of the support work in their struggle to keep moving.

“Put me down,” Levi ordered. 

Eren obeyed, only because he was equally exhausted.

The injuries they had obtained were still causing them horrible pain. Levi was breathing heavily. He was able to take the pain better than Eren could. No wonder he didn't even feel it when he got shot. The bleeding in his side was only slowed by a makeshift bandage that was already losing strength.

“We're not gonna make it, are we?” Eren asked him.

“Don't be stupid,” said Levi. He knew that Eren was right though. The cold air would only quicken their soon-to-be deaths.

“You're pale, Captain.”

“Is that so?” Levi was starting to feel the chill now. He looked at the injury on Eren's leg. Damn brat had to hurt himself taking a bullet for him (when he didn't deserve it). It was his stupid fault that Eren was shot to begin with. “I suppose there is only one option then.”

“What's that?” Eren asked.

“You keep moving.” Levi coughed. “I refuse to be dead weight anymore for your limpin' ass.”

“Captain, we can't be that far from the camp! If we just...”

“You not listen to a word I just said? I'm spent, Yeager! I won't survive the night.”

“But...” Eren was shaking. “But we need you!”

Levi shook his head. “No. You can make it back a lot quicker without me...Colonel Erwin will take care of things. And don't let yourself get killed. You need to survive this war. And when you do, you will go home and marry Mikasa!”

Silence.

Eren was trying to take in what Levi just said. “Are you…?”

Levi looked down. “I...I've let this go on for long enough, taking out what your father did on you when I know it wasn't really his fault. I don't expect your forgiveness. Just obey my last order and get out of here. Y-you have my blessing.”

“Captain...I...” Eren got up. “I'll go, if only to get help.”

“Don't forget the part I said about not getting killed.”

Eren laughed at his Captain's comment. Then he finally got up. Levi kept his eye on him until Eren was limping away into the fog. The silence was comforting. Perhaps there was hope for that brat after all.

With that, Levi fell back to the ground, closing his eyes. Eren was not his perfect choice for looking after Mikasa, but all other options had ceased.

Ploughfields was done. But he always knew that was its fate.

At least he would be with the others now.

…

After a rough climb, Hange was on her knees, barely able to get up. But she made it. She was out of that cursed river and back on the road.

She was still freezing and weak from exhaustion. Her legs were getting wobbly as she tried to walk again.

The fog was now so thick, it was a miracle that she could even breathe.

But soon the road had disappeared, and Hange was wandering endlessly in an area with no trees. She knew this would put her in danger being out in the open like this. Unfortunately there were no trees, nothing standing out, to give her any sense of where she was.

She look instead, to the ground ahead and could make out a body lying in the grass.

Instinctively, she moved towards it. If it was friend or enemy, perhaps it was a clue as to which camp she was getting closest to.

She dropped to her knees beside the body and was soon taken aback when she realized…

“Levi?”

Her blurry vision could easily deceive, but there was no doubt about it when she spotted the familiar cravat.

She leaned down to listen to a heartbeat. It was still there, but Levi felt cold to the touch and was looking pale. Her hands eventually came upon a mushy bloody wound on his right side. He had been shot there.

“Levi, wake up!”

His breathing was irregular but his eyes slowly opened.

“It's me, Hange!” she said, shaking him lightly.

Levi moaned. “Hange? I...I must be dreaming...”

Hange thought she was going to laugh and cry at the same time. “No, Levi. Just hang in there. I'll try and do something about the wound.”

“My...my pocket,” Levi groaned.

Hange patted his coat pocket and retrieved a familiar pair of broken glasses.

“Thank you, Levi.”

With her vision somewhat back, she was able to get a better view of the wound. Unfortunately, she had no way of getting the bullet out except with her fingers. And it would hurt. It would be messy.

But Levi didn't have much time left.

“AH!” Levi cried out.

“Sorry,” Hange whispered. It still wasn't over. She had a small bottle of alcohol in her pocket that thankfully wasn't crushed. She poured what little was in it onto the wound.

This time, Levi was digging his fingers into the earth, trying his best to cope with the pain...all while grunting and hissing loudly.

Hange could now only hope that she was able to keep the wound from being infected any further. She pulled Levi closer to her.

“Y-you...you gotta get out of here,” Levi warned her. “Marley...”

“Shh,” said Hange. “You're crazy to think I'm going to leave you like this.” She felt his head. “You're so cold.”

“So are you, Four-Eyes,” he said, trying to adjust his head on Hange's lap. He closed his eyes and thought to himself that it wouldn't be so bad...dying like this.

Hange could see her own breath which made her all the more worried. She wrapped her arms around Levi, not knowing what was to come. All there was around them was fog and silence. 

_~Months Ago~_

_Hange and Nanaba were sitting on the porch having tea. The country house that Nanaba and Mike lived was small but quaint, everything Hange dreamed for herself but knew was out of reach._

_She didn't where else to go after she had left Ploughfields. She thought about going north to possibly find work, but she feared the reference letter she had wouldn't be enough. Hange couldn't bear repeating the struggles of finding work that she had already dealt with in the past, and she was still shaken by how she had left things with Levi._

_Nanaba seemed delighted when Hange told her what Levi had 'suggested'._

_“That's sounds exactly like Levi, alright. You know it's quite difficult for him to be formal when it comes to his emotions.”_

_“I didn't think he was serious,” said Hange._

_“Why not?” Nanaba asked her. “I mean, wasn't Mrs. Smith right. Didn't you…?”_

_Hange looked down at her tea nervously. “What does it matter? Even if this war didn't happen, I'm not I'm not fit for...his kind of life.”_

_Nanaba couldn't help but giggle. “Mike and I, we've known Levi for quite some time. And one thing we know is that he's always felt out of place with our breed. Quite honestly, I think that does make you the perfect fit for him. I've never seen him more comfortable around anyone since Petra passed.”_

_“But he's going to lose the house.”_

_“Do you really think he would have cared about that?” Nanaba asked him. “If you truly want to be with someone, then the money shouldn't matter, should it?”_

__

But that was exactly what Nanaba didn't understand. 

If only Hange was willing to admit it then. 

She wanted Ploughfields to be saved because she had loved it. She had loved everyone that she had gotten to know there.

“Levi...” Hange whispered to him. “I'm sorry. I should have said yes.”

She felt cold tears trickle down her face, not knowing how much longer she and Levi were going to last here.

Her vision was starting to blur when she thought she was hearing horse hooves. Hange could see only shadows moving towards them in the fog when her body finally gave in and she closed her eyes.

…

Levi did not expect to find himself lying in bed, let alone be alive. He had been ready to accept his fate. 

From his surroundings, he knew that he was in a medical facility of sorts. An empty bed was on the opposite side of the room.

He tried sitting up, but his side was killing him. He felt where his bullet wound had been and discovered it now covered in new bandages.

“Hange, you need to rest!” A voice called from outside his room. It sounded like Colonel Erwin.

“But I need to check on...”

“You've been at this for hours. You've barely treated yourself since you got here. Please let the others handle it. Just look at yourself.”

He could hear Hange groaning when she entered his room.

“He's right you know,” Levi said to her.

Hange looked up. Her face had some minor bruising and bandages. She was as exhausted as Colonel Erwin claimed. But her eyes lit up the moment she saw him.

“Levi!!”

She hurried over to his bed and tried to hug him. “Easy!” he told her, pointing to the pain in his side. “Where are we?”

“The hospital in Ragako,” said Hange. “They're bringing all the wounded soldiers here.”

“What about Marley?”

“I heard they were able to capture and kill most of them. But there's still a lot of fighting going on. Besides, Colonel Erwin tells me you'll have to be discharged because of your wound.

“Shit,” Levi grumbled. Knowing that he could barely move, Levi knew his usefulness on the battlefield was done.

“Levi, be lucky Eren was able to get help.”

Levi smirked. “So he's alive, huh?” He looked up at Hange's weary eyes. “Fine then. Go to bed and I'll consider going home.”

“That's not how this works,” Hange said, rolling her eyes.

“You're so stubborn. Okay then.” He grabbed Hange by the arm and practically pulled her into his bed.

“Levi! This isn't appropriate!” Hange was worried about someone walking in on them like this.

“Then just sleep, dammit.”

She was now on Levi's bed lying inches from his face. “Okay! Okay! I'll take the other bed.” She finally got up and pulled the covers from the empty bed. All she could do was look up at the ceiling.

“Hange...”

She looked over at him. “Hmm?”

“You scared me to death out there. When I couldn't find you...”

“Is that how you got that wound?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Well, I'm here now. You can't get rid of me that easily.”

Levi looked over at her. Perhaps he wasn't as cursed as he thought he was. “I guess not.”

…

A week later, Levi was officially discharged. Colonel Erwin assured him however that the war was nearing its end. There were even talks of a treaty to soon follow.

That gave Levi a little bit of peace about the whole thing.

Unfortunately he was still not in any condition to move around, let alone get up much under his own power. Hange said it would still take weeks before he was back to his old self again.

He groaned and squirmed when being lifted into the wagon on a stretcher by Eren and Armin. Levi could see that Eren's leg had become limp as a result of his own injury. He tried to hide his guilt.

“You're putting too much weight on that leg, brat,” he told him.

“It's fine, Captain. And about what you said...”

“Nothing's changed,” Levi stated. “I said Colonel Erwin would take care of things, did I?”

Eren and Armin gave their salutes to their captain. Then the wagon that Hange was driving finally took off.

In less than a day's time, Hange could see the trees in full bloom an a familiar looking village on the horizon.

Soon enough, she could see Ploughfields, and she could not contain her emotions.

It was just as she remembered it to be.

When the wagon passed through the gate, Hange could see people coming out of the house.

It was the entire staff. They had gathered together as the wagon pulled in. Then bowed in respect to Hange when she got off the wagon.

One last person finally stepped out of the house.

Mikasa.

She rushed to embrace Hange and then hurried to the back of the wagon to see Levi lying there.

“Come on, you're crying over nothing,” he told her.

The men helped to pull Levi out of the wagon and carry him into the house.

“Welcome back, Miss Hange,” Miss Rico told her. “We didn't think we'd ever see you here again.”

Hange smiled. “Neither did I.”

She did not expect her time here again to be very long. But as long as Levi need her care, she would make the most of it.


	9. Ploughfields Lives On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the end of the story. I'm sorry with how ridiculously long it took for me to spew out these later chapters. You'd think Covi would have given me more free time on my hands but that turned out to be opposite. :P Also the last scene of this fic was a bit of a writer's block struggle.
> 
> Anyway I would like to thank everyone who have read and reviewed this story. It was lots of fun getting back into fanfiction writing and getting a thrill from review notifications (heehee). I hope to write more Levihan in the future but maybe I'll focus more on one shots or shorter fics.
> 
> Enjoy this last chapter Levihan fans. :)

“Here comes the birdie...”

Levi was not amused by Hange's teasing. In fact, this should be considered insulting given his age and position.

Still he let her play around with the spoonful of porridge until it finally entered his mouth.

“I can feed myself,” he told her. The bullet wound only hindered his ability to get up without assistance. But Hange insisted on feeding him in his own bed.

“You need to take it easy,” Hange said.

Levi was getting more frustrated. “How can I? The war is still going on. I should be out there...”

“Didn't Erwin's last letter say there could be a treaty soon?”

“And how many could die before then?”

Hange fed him another spoonful to silence him. “You've already done your part, Levi. That is all you can really do.”

There was a knock at the door and Marlowe stepped in. A few days ago, he had been shocked at the idea of Hange being in the Captain's chambers. But now he had gotten used to it. “Sir, this came for you.”

It was a letter, but not the one Hange and Levi had hoped for.

Levi showed no emotion when he was done reading it.

“Levi?” Hange was very concerned when she felt him shift in an attempt to get up.

“Stohess…,” he groaned in pain. “I have to get to Stohess.”

…

Levi knew he could not make the journey alone in his condition. He put up little fight with Hange alongside him in the coach. 

They arrived in a town that was far from affected by the ongoing war. Stohess was a more luxurious town but their particular journey led them to a block that had seen better days. They arrived at a townhouse that was aging poorly on the outside with cracks and vines creeping up the walls.

A woman named Traute led them up the stairs to a dark bedroom. Neither of them were prepared for what they saw.

“There you are kid, didn't think you'd bother comin'...”

Kenny was lying in a bed, nearly resembling a corpse. Only a few strands of hair remained on his balding head. His skin was more wrinkly and pale than usual. His eyes seemed bruised.

“Hey...” Kenny smiled at Hange. His voice was hoarse. “Thought we saw the last of you.”

Hange had seen this before in her medical experience. She feared she already knew what this was. She gave him a sad smile. “Is there...anything I can do to help?” she asked him.

Kenny shook his head. “Already got a doc's diagnosis,” he said. “Seems I had a little too much fun than my liver could handle.”

Levi had been quietly leaning against the cane that was supporting his body, giving his uncle an unimpressed look.

“Mind if I have a word with my nephew?”

“Of course,” Hange said. She gave Levi a reassuring touch of the shoulder before the room emptied out with only the two men remaining.

“So you haven't died,” said Kenny. “Didn't think you would. Never lost an Ackerman who went to war from what my daddy told me.”

Levi moved a little closer to the bed. “Hange thinks you should come home if you're running out of time,” he told him.

“So it's just 'Hange' now huh?” Kenny asked with a chuckle. “'Fraid I won't make it that long, kid. It's why I thought it better you come here. Appreciate the gesture, though.”

As much as he hated to admit it, Levi was starting to feel a bit of pity for his crazy uncle. At the same time, a part of him wanted to yell at him for doing this to himself through a lifetime of neglect...and not just to his own body.

But what would be the point? There was no turning back from this now. 

“What do you want done?” Levi asked him.

“Hell, you could throw my body in a ditch for all I care. That'a be more fitting for an Ackerman like me. And while you're at it, feel free to get what you can for this place. It's all in the will.”

Levi was surprised by this suggestion. “You want me to sell this house?”

“You're more of a country boy, ain't ya? Figure the money should last Ploughfields a few more years.” Kenny leaned over to the dresser by his and opened a drawer. “Guess this is yours too.”

He handed Levi a ring. This one was far more elegant and lavish than the one he had given Petra years ago. It was also rather ancient.

“Last family heirloom I tried not to sell...back from when I was still in daddy's good graces. Always thought I'd find me a nice lady like he wanted and settle down. Guess that kind of life was never for me.”

Levi clenched the ring in his hand. “Why did you even bother with me?” he asked him. “You could have just left me there...”

Kenny coughed. “Hey...I thought she would get better too,” he said referring to Kuchel. “I put on a front with him when he kicked her out, cause I had to. When I found you two...I knew she was gone for good in that head of hers. So I thought...maybe her kid could do better than either of us did.”

Levi's hands were shaking. This didn't escape Kenny's weak sickly eyes. “That ring though, no need to sell it. Hell, that doctor lady is practically family by now, ain't she?”

He wouldn't answer his uncle on that front.

…

Levi and Hange remained there for several days until Kenny had finally gone to meet his maker.

It was a long and quiet journey they made back to Ploughfields, after arrangements were made to have Kenny's body delivered to them later on.

A strange mix of solemness and celebration greeted them back at the house. The word had just arrived that the war had officially ended with Eldia victorious. Mikasa was the most relieved of them all. Eren would soon be home. She had been worried after she had been informed that the injury in his leg had not fully healed and was likely never going to.

And Levi, despite his uncle's passing, was getting physically better. He was able to get up on his own but still required his cane for basic movement.

For Hange, that meant the time to move on was coming. She began writing letters, using Levi's references and was surprised, in return, to have received a few interested employers who did not care that she was a woman doctor. The war had earn his a bit more prestige than she had ever expected.

“Have you decided which one you'll take?” Miss Rico had asked her.

But Hange remained hesitant. This was the path that she had been striving for so long, yet she wasn't sure if this was what even she wanted anymore.

They were suddenly distracted by the small gathering of staff in the main hall. In the middle of them was an exhausted Mr. Ness, who seemed short of breath.

“What's the meaning of this?” Miss Rico asked the group angrily. “You know you're not supposed to come in through the main door!”

“I had to, ma'am,” Mr. Ness explained in between breaths. “Had to hurry quick, I just saw Mr. Yeager down the road.”

“Eren Yeager? He's coming here?” Sasha asked.

“Indeed. I offered him a lift on Charette on account of his bad leg and all. He absolutely insisted on walking the whole way. Real important he did today, he said...”

Hange tried to think why Eren would do that to himself. Even Levi would think that too much.

He wouldn't be going through all this trouble unless…

Excitement began building up in Hange, and then the others.

“Quick, get Mikasa!”

Everyone scrambled to find Mikasa. Soon they were all filing into her bedroom. The maids rushed to her wardrobe.

“Hange, what on earth is going on?”

“Just bear with us, you'll see,” Hange said while the maids were hurrying to do Mikasa's hair. 

Once she seemed suitable enough, Hange pulled her down the stairs. The staff had the door open and ready.

Hange pointed outside. “There...”

From a far distance, beyond the main gate was Eren Yeager, still in his military uniform slowly limping his way closer and closer.

Mikasa couldn't believe her eyes as she stepped outside the door.

Hange and the rest of the staff stayed in the main hall, crowding up against any window they could find. She had thought to fetch Levi, who was likely still asleep. But she couldn't bear to miss a second of what was possibly about to happen.

They could see, if only barely, the forms of Eren and Mikasa finally meeting up with one another at the main gate. Eren was no doubt exhausted. He managed to stand tall despite his ailing leg. 

An angonizing minute of them talking and holding hands had passed. It looked as though Eren was about to finally collapse.

But no...he was getting down on one knee.

The excited gasps filled the main hall.

Little did they know that one floor above them, Levi was looking out at the same scene through his own bedroom window. He watched as Mikasa embraced Eren and a massive cheer suddenly erupted from below his feet.

Never had his staff ever caused such a raucous.

But he might as well let it be, just this once.

 _'So the brat finally did it,'_ he thought to himself as he sipped his tea.

...

The days were getting longer from the approaching summer. For Hange however, they were feeling much shorter.

Hard to believe there was a time when Levi would not allow her to speak at the dinner table. Now she could ramble on about her medical knowledge or the day's events and Levi was more intrigued than annoyed by it. Then there was the fact that she had free reign of the house and Levi nor the staff paid her any mind whatever she did.

She had expected to be happy when Levi received a massive payment for his military service. The money, combined with what Kenny had left him, meant that Ploughfields had many more years ahead of it under Levi's ownership.

And he no longer felt any hesitation for Mikasa's future now that she would soon have a husband and an estate she could proudly inherit.

But Hange was once again slowing herself to empty her old bedroom. She hadn't arranged for transportation to leave yet. In fact, she didn't have much of a destination in mind. She only knew that with Levi getting better and the future of Ploughfields set, she could finally be at peace with whatever the world held for her ahead.

She strolled the grounds, expecting this to be the final time she would lay eyes on the place. She could see the cemetery over the next hill.

And standing alone in the midst of all, was the small form of Levi Ackerman.

Hange made her way to him. There he stood under a shade-filled tree, infront of two graves, his mother and Kenny's, which was still fresh of dug earth.

And as Levi turned to see her, Hange swore that he could see the glimpse of a sad smile on his hard-to-read face.

“I know,” he said.

“Huh? Know what?”

“That you haven't responded to any of your job offers...the ones you spoke of at dinner. Why is that?”

Hange was taken aback but smiled. “Oh, don't rush me, okay? These decisions aren't easy to make.”

“It should be for you. Your dream of owning your own medical office, close at hand...just like you've always wanted.”

She wondered if this was Levi's way of sending her on her way. After everything they had been through together…

“I suppose I have overstayed my welcome,” she said. She started to slowly turn to head back to Ploughfields, feeling a bit saddened. “I don't expect payment again. I just...hope that we can say goodbye properly this time around.”

She didn't make it very far.

Levi had grabbed her by the arm and Hange looked back to see him. He could hardly stand and his very form was shaking. Was it the heat?

He kept his head down, unable to make eye contact with her.

“Don't be foolish,” he told her. “You've had a hold on this very place since you first step foot. I'm a cursed man and yet through it all you have wavered through it. How can I dismiss that like it is nothing?”

“Levi...”

Hange looked down at him. She had never seen the captain look so humble, so desperate. She could sense the inner struggle he was facing with himself as his hands move to take hers.

“I have always been selfish, but never moreso than now. Forgive me, Hange. As much as I long for your happiness, I cannot allow you your dream if it means you must part from me again!”

The winds were blowing amidst the silence between them. Hange had been taken aback by his startling confession. She was broken from her trance when Levi's still-healing side started to give, and he slowly dropped to his knees to relieve the pressure. She tried to help him, but Levi waved his hand to give her assurance.

“Please tell me there's something within you that hesitates to leave this all behind...that shares my desire for you to remain...” he said, now looking up at her.

How could Hange deny it? “I…” she smiled. “I couldn't possibly belong here.”

“I'm the one who determines that.”

His hands were to his sides. One of them felt something in jacket pocket...something that he had forgotten about since his final exchange with his uncle back in Stohess.

“That day before the war...I had been of sound mind. The fate of the house...our age...our positions...should never have had any bearing in what we wanted. And mine, Dr. Zoe, has not changed...that you may consider a future with me to the very end.”

Hange could see him remove something from his pocket and his hand soon revealed to her the Ackerman family ring, one which had not been presented to a woman in nearly two generations. She was at a loss for words.

“Was this better than my last?” he nervously asked her.

She knew he was referring to his proposal.

“Yes…,” she sobbed happily. “Yes, to all of it.”

Somehow Levi found the strength to push himself back up and Hange was quick to pull him into her arms.

There they embraced, surrounded by only the dead. Levi knew the ills they represent in his life would haunt him no more.

Soon the Captain and his future wife began their leisurely stroll back to their eternal home, with talks of double weddings and a private office for Hange in Trost.

It made Levi wonder if there ever truly was an Ackerman curse, or perhaps he had finally see a way forward that was not constantly filled with pain or grief.

Like a spell being broken, the future of the Ackerman family now felt as warm as the summer sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End


End file.
